- By Kamakshi Bishnoi
- Mon, 24 Feb 2025 10:27 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Germany’s opposition leader, Friedrich Merz, is set to take charge as the country’s new Chancellor after his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party secured victory in the general election on Sunday. Merz’s party, along with its ally, the Christian Social Union (CSU), garnered the largest share of votes, defeating incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).
According to German broadcaster ARD, the bloc led by Friedrich Merz, which includes his party Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), won 28.5 per cent of vote, followed by far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which secured 20.7 per cent votes.
"Tonight we will celebrate, and tomorrow we will start working. I will try to form a government that represents the entire country. There is no question of forming a coalition with the AFD," Merz said after the victory.
Who is Friedrich Merz?
Born on November 11, 1955, in Brilon, Germany, Friedrich Merz hails from a family with a strong legal background. He began studying law in 1976 and has been a member of the CDU since 1972. Merz married Charlotte Merz, a fellow lawyer and now a judge, in 1981. The couple has three children.
READ MORE: Germany Election Results: Friedrich Merz To Be Germany's New Chancellor; Olaf Scholz Concedes Defeat
His political career took off in 1989 when he was elected to the European Parliament. In 1994, he entered the Bundestag (Germany’s federal parliament) after winning an absolute majority in the Hochsauerlandkreis constituency. Merz became CDU’s parliamentary leader in 2000 but later handed over the position to Angela Merkel in 2002.
After a political setback in 2005, when the CDU/CSU bloc formed a government in Germany with the SPD, Merz found himself sidelined and decided to leave active politics in 2009.
Merz then went on to have a promising career in law and finance. Nearly 10 years later, he returned to politics after Angela Merkel’s retirement in 2018. However, he lost by a narrow margin to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
In 2020, he was given another chance at the top post when Kramp-Karrenbauer said she would step down from the party post. However, he was again not considered for succession as the party placed its bet on Armin Laschet.
Now, with his party’s victory in the general election, Merz is poised to become Germany’s new Chancellor. "Germany will once again be governed with strength," news agency Reuters quoted Merz’s statement to his supporters.