The 69-year-old CDU chief Friedrich Merz is a big favorite for the German chancellorship after Sunday’s snap election.
Friedrich Merz, chief of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) birthday celebration chief and election front-runner has waited a very long time to achieve this level – one step clear of the German chancellorship.
The 69-year-old has persistently been forward within the polls ever because the incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz misplaced a self assurance vote in December ultimate 12 months, leading to an early election this coming Sunday 23 February.
Up to now a long-time rival of extra centrist former Chancellor Angela Merkel, the fairly right-leaning Merz was CDU birthday celebration chairman in January 2022 and was its designated candidate for chancellor in September ultimate 12 months.
Having a look to persuade the birthday celebration in a extra conservative course, he has made curtailing abnormal migration a central factor in its politics.
Merz studied regulation, and to start with labored as a attorney. Having joined the CDU whilst nonetheless in class, he at all times had his eye on politics, and was once elected to the Eu Parliament in 1989. He then switched to home politics after changing into an German member of parliament in 1994.
Emerging in the course of the ranks of the birthday celebration of the following couple of years, Merz was once in the end sidelined throughout the birthday celebration after an influence fight with Angela Merkel. He determined to depart politics, and spent a variety of years operating in senior positions within the non-public sector, comparable to at BlackRock Germany and HSBC Trinkhaus & Burkhardt, and likewise served at the forums of EY Germany and soccer workforce Borussia Dortmund.
His go back to parliament greater than a decade later was once marked by way of his makes an attempt to shift the CDU in opposition to what has been characterized as a extra socially conservative and pro-business stance.
In terms of immigration, Merz made waves in January when he driven thru a non-binding movement that advocated for stricter immigration regulations, comparable to border controls and greater deportations, in spite of grievance that this may wreck each German and EY asylum regulation.
Possibly extra pertinently on the subject of his doable willingness to go into into politically dangerous territory, Merz was once extensively lambasted for backtracking on his place of now not operating with the Selection for Germany (AfD) and breaching the so-called “firewall” in opposition to the far-right birthday celebration to go the measures. He later dominated out any long run cooperation with the far-right.
With the German financial system recently in dire straits, Merz has steadily criticised the commercial insurance policies put ahead by way of Scholz’s executive, blaming them for the rustic’s financial hunch. He’s a proponent of lowering social advantages and downsizing executive employment. Controversially, he additionally helps tax cuts, which would scale back executive earnings, whilst additionally being open to slicing executive subsidies.
In terms of international coverage, Friedrich Merz was once assertive all the way through ultimate week’s Munich Safety Convention, announcing that Germany must play a larger management position within the EU, whilst additionally pledging make stronger for Ukraine and backing its accession to NATO.
Merz is married and has 3 youngsters. An aviation fanatic, he reportedly owns two aeroplanes which he flies in his spare time.