New Delhi: Germany’s conservative leader Friedrich Merz is poised to assume leadership of the nation following his party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), securing the largest share of votes in the recent general elections, thereby surpassing Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).
The coalition led by Friedrich Merz, which includes the CDU and the Christian Social Union (CSU), garnered 28.5 percent of the votes, while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) followed with 20.7 percent, according to reports from German broadcaster ARD.
On Sunday evening, as the results indicated a significant victory for his party, Merz addressed his supporters, stating, “Germany will once again be governed reliably,” as reported by the news agency Reuters.
Friedrich Merz, born on November 11, 1955, in Brilon, Germany, hails from a family with a notable legal background. He began his law studies in 1976 and has been affiliated with the CDU since 1972. In 1981, he married Charlotte Merz, a fellow lawyer who is currently a judge, and they have three children together.
In 1989, Merz was elected to the European Parliament, and in 1994, he transitioned to the Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany, after securing an absolute majority in the Hochsauerlandkreis constituency, as reported by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, a German think tank.
Merz occupied significant roles within the CDU and ascended to the position of the party’s parliamentary leader in 2000. Nevertheless, he relinquished this role to Angela Merkel in 2002. Following a political setback in 2005, when the CDU/CSU coalition formed a government in partnership with the SPD, Merz found himself marginalized and opted to exit active politics in 2009. Subsequently, he embarked on a distinguished career in law and finance.
