Merz demands “course correction” from German government
Published: Sunday, Jun 9th 2024, 19:30
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Opposition leader Friedrich Merz has called on the German government to change course following the SPD and Greens' losses in the European elections on Sunday.
"Making a real course correction now is urgently necessary in the interests of our country, and I call on the federal government to do so in the coming days," said the CDU leader in the evening after the first projections were published. These put the CDU and CSU together at 29.6 percent and the three "traffic light" parties (SPD, FDP, Greens) at a total of just 31 percent.
"Things cannot go on as they have over the last two and a half years," said Merz. "In particular, it is a serious election defeat for the Chancellor," he emphasized. This is now "really the last warning" for the coalition ahead of next year's general election. The coalition was damaging Germany with its policies. This applies to domestic policy, for example with the decisions on migration issues, but also to economic policy.
"We are back with this European election, and in first place among the German parties by a wide margin," said the CDU chairman, who is also head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
The SPD won the 2021 federal election with 25.7% and its lead candidate Olaf Scholz replaced Angela Merkel in the chancellorship after 16 years of a CDU-led government. In the next national election - probably in September 2025 - Merz is likely to challenge Scholz as the candidate for chancellor.
CDU/CSU parliamentary group deputy Jens Spahn urged Scholz to ask for a vote of confidence following the poor performance of the SPD and the other "traffic light" parties in the Bundestag. CSU leader and Bavarian Minister President Markus Söder said that the "traffic light" coalition had "de facto been voted out by the citizens". The CSU is the sister party of the CDU and is only running in Bavaria, while the CSU is only running in the other 15 federal states.
©Keystone/SDA
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