Friedrich Merz, a candidate for a union for Chancellor and the Federal Chairman of the CDU, joins the TV circle “quadure” within the Bundestag election marketing campaign.
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Friedrich Merz, the migration onerous liner and Angela Merkel’s longtime rival is anticipated to turn into the subsequent chancellor in Germany. His Get together Christian Democratic Union is the host of polls together with its department the Christian Social Union simply days earlier than the election.
As early as September, Mertz was elected as a sure CDU social gathering candidate for this yr’s federal elections., After main the group and main the CSU-CSU opposition group since 2022, CSU is a regional social gathering that has dominated Bavarian coverage for many years and shaped an alliance with the CDU on the federal degree.
Between politics and enterprise
Earlier than getting into politics, Merz, 69, studied regulation and first labored as a decide, then as a lawyer at LLP Mayer Brown. He has additionally held senior positions in numerous main companies, together with Blackrock Germany and HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt, in addition to serves on the Ey Germany, Borussia Dortmund and Deutsche Börse boards.
Mertz is married with three youngsters. He According to messages He has two planes that he pilots in his spare time.
Mertz says he joined the CDU when he was nonetheless in class, ultimately headed the native department of the social gathering’s youth group. In 1989, he took the function of a member of the European Parliament for a 5 -year time period earlier than becoming a member of Germany Bundestag for 15 years.
A lot of Mertz’s political profession within the early 2000s was marked by Merkel’s rivalry, with the 2 combating for management positions within the CDU, in addition to the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. Mertz turned the chairman for the primary time, after which the deputy supervisor of the final group after 2000.
He resigned from this place in 2004. With Observers On the time, suggesting that this was resulting from Merkel’s rise via the ranks.
Angela Merkel and Friedrich Mertz in 2001
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The stress between Merkel and Merz stays to today, with the previous German Chancellor final month criticism The chief of CDU for cooperation with the extraordinarily proper different desolation voices in parliamentary voices.
Political positions
Merz, just like the CDU, follows the right-wing positions within the middle and is thought to be a socially conservative, pro-business politician.
Merz has overlap To scale back revenue taxes and companies, together with slicing bureaucratic forms to strengthen enterprise and innovation and adapt the framework situations for business in Germany to extend non-public funding. He additionally shared his objective of constructing Germany extra engaging to start out -ups and mentioned he would create a brand new ministerial function to give attention to digitalization and AI.
The CDU chief has additionally acknowledged that he’ll doubtlessly open to reform the closely contested in Germany Dollar brake A rule that limits how a lot debt the federal government can tackle and restricts the structural funds deficit of the federal authorities.
Mertz is extremely vital of financial insurance policies below the Olaf Sulz authorities, which means that they’re the reason for the nation’s fall and name for main shifts.
This place has included criticism Relating to financial insurance policies centered an excessive amount of on local weather change that Mertz says will change. Whereas he usually acknowledges the local weather disaster as an issue, Mertz was skeptical of some actions taken to cope with it, similar to development wind turbinesS
On the overseas coverage entrance, Merz suggested Throughout the Safety Convention in Munich final weekend, Germany has to take a stronger management place in Europe and say that the struggle in Ukraine quickly has to finish till till indicates that it is going to be opened for additional provide of weapons to the nation of stabbing.
Nevertheless, Mertz has refused questions on plans for German protection prices in opposition to the background of the talk about whether or not NATO members ought to enhance their funding within the space.
A matter of coverage that has put Mertz into sizzling water is immigration. He has overlap For enhanced safety measures, elevated deportations and extra border management, criticizing present asylum and migration insurance policies for Germany for being too calm and slowly shifting and connecting them with violence attacks carried out within the nation by the individuals who needs to be deportedS
The state of affairs reached the head In January, when the non-binding motion, led by Merz, was supported by AFD-the first time within the historical past of Germany postwar that almost all was achieved with the assistance of the far proper.
