Merz Refuses to Quit As CDU Suffers Worst State Election Result Since 1949

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to remain in office on Sunday and push ahead with his reform program after his Christian Democratic Union suffered its worst state election result since 1949.

The CDU was projected at just 4.9% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sunday, leaving it below the threshold required to enter the state parliament.

Merz described the result as “a disaster” but rejected suggestions that the setback would force him from the chancellery.

“What needs to be done now requires backbone, steadfastness, and patience,” Merz said, defending a reform agenda that has faced mounting resistance among voters.

AfD Takes First Place

Alternative for Germany was projected to finish first in the northeastern state with 38.3%, according to ARD public television.

The Social Democrats followed at 35.4%, leaving both parties far ahead of Merz’s conservatives.

The result marked the AfD’s second first-place finish in a state election this month. Other mainstream parties continue to rule out coalition agreements with it.

Merz’s difficulties were reinforced by a separate vote in Berlin, where the CDU’s share fell to 19%.

The far-left Linke party led there with 25.3%, while the AfD rose to 16.3%. Linke had never previously finished first in the state.

Pressure Mounts on Merz

The results deepen the political strain on a chancellor already contending with weak approval ratings and opposition to pension, tax and healthcare reforms.

Merz was elected last year on a platform of restructuring the German economy and restoring growth.

However, voter dissatisfaction has grown alongside concerns over living costs, energy prices and housing.

Marcel Fratzscher, president of the Berlin-based DIW research institute, said the election setbacks could make further changes harder to deliver.

“It will now become even more difficult for the federal government to muster the courage and political support for a fundamental reform programme,” he said.

Fratzscher warned that continued disagreement among the governing parties could entrench political paralysis and prolong Germany’s economic weakness.

Merz Rejects Change of Course

Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, who also leads the SPD, signaled that the government should reconsider parts of its approach, pointing to voter concerns over pension reforms.

Merz instead indicated that he would continue with his existing strategy.

“I would go so far as to say that these reforms are the antidote to the authoritarian poison that is penetrating ever deeper into our society, driven by the allure of authoritarianism,” he said.

His stance underlines a widening tension inside the governing coalition over how to respond to a succession of poor electoral results.

SPD Holds Ground in Northeast

Manuela Schwesig, the SPD state premier in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, strengthened her position during the campaign by criticizing both the AfD and reforms pursued by the federal government.

She also pointed to resistance in the state to Germany’s support for Ukraine as one factor behind the AfD’s showing.

“First, in my state, many people oppose support for Ukraine, both financial and military,” Schwesig said.

She added that some voters wanted Russian energy supplies through the Nord Stream pipelines to resume.

AfD Gains Across Eastern Germany

The Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania vote followed an election in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6 in which the AfD came close to securing an absolute majority.

The party has expanded rapidly over the past decade from its origins as a eurosceptic movement.

Its program includes stricter deportation measures for foreigners without the right to remain in Germany, restoring energy ties with Russia and leaving the euro.

The latest results also intensify scrutiny of the political “firewall” maintained by Germany’s other major parties, which refuse to form governing coalitions with the AfD.