Earlier than he returned to politics, received a nationwide election and have become the primary would-be chancellor in fashionable German historical past to fail to win the job on the primary poll in Parliament, Friedrich Merz accepted an invite to a gathering of the French Overseas Legion in Corsica.
On the final second, the organizers requested him to reach on the parade floor not by street or rail, however by parachute. Mr. Merz, then a company lawyer, had by no means jumped out of a aircraft. However a fellow attendee recalled just lately that Mr. Merz didn’t hesitate. He made the bounce — efficiently, however with a little bit of a tough touchdown.
It’s not but clear if Mr. Merz’s tough touchdown in his bid for the chancellery is a stumble, or one thing extra dire. He nonetheless seems prone to grow to be Germany’s subsequent chief, at a pivotal time for the nation’s economic system, safety and position in Europe.
However his lack of ability to safe the votes he wanted Tuesday to grow to be chancellor is an ominous signal for Mr. Merz, as he makes an attempt to wrangle lawmakers to confront crises at residence and overseas, whereas holding off a surge from the far-right Different for Germany, or AfD.
Mr. Merz is a product of the Sauerland in Germany’s rich west, a area that defines his politics and persona. Throughout his marketing campaign, he ran on the slogan “Extra Sauerland for Germany,” evoking the area’s picture as a heartland of the nation.
Supporters name him an agile politician with the potential to ship on the massive points worrying the German public: development, protection, immigration.
“I believe he’s extraordinarily nicely ready and really deep and considerate,” stated John P. Schmitz, a deputy White Home counsel beneath George H.W. Bush. Mr. Schmitz helped rent Mr. Merz to work within the German workplaces of the Chicago regulation agency Mayer Brown and jumped out of the aircraft in Corsica with Mr. Merz round 2005.
However others say Mr. Merz struggles to plan multiple step forward, main him to interrupt guarantees — and leaving him susceptible to shock setbacks just like the vote Tuesday.
His about-faces on spending and migration have alienated a lot of his base conservative voters. Mr. Merz and his occasion have sagged within the polls for the reason that election, and the AfD has drawn even with them in some surveys. Even earlier than the loss Tuesday, he had one of many lowest approval scores of any German chief within the fashionable period.
“There’s this previous saying: ‘No matter you do, act correctly and take into account the top,’” stated Ruprecht Polenz, a former secretary common of Mr. Merz’s occasion. “This pondering,” he added, “I really feel is just not his fundamental power.”
Learn extra about Mr. Merz, his background and his strategy to politics in our profile of him.
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