Friedrich Merz’s demeanour was grim as he stepped before the cameras on Sunday evening to address his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party after two more disappointing state election results. Following what the German chancellor had called the CDU’s “worst defeat in many years” in Saxony-Anhalt two weeks ago, Merz described the result of Sunday’s Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania election as a “disaster”.
His party won just 4.9% of the vote in the largely rural, eastern, coastal state. This means that, for the first time, it fell short of the 5% threshold needed for entering a state parliament.
