CDU's historic defeat fuels a dangerous void in Germany's centre right

Friedrich Merz’s tenure has led the CDU to its first ever exit from a state parliament, a blow to a party long seen as a democratic cornerstone. Critics argue Merz turned the CDU into a niche party serving real-estate firms, wealthy donors and corporate employers, abandoning its broad-based appeal. As a result, voters in regions such as Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Berlin and Sachsen-Anhalt have migrated to the AfD, which now threatens to form its first state government.

The article warns that without a revitalised, inclusive CDU, the political centre will remain vacant, allowing the far-right to reshape the moderate spectrum. It calls for a return to the cross-milieu outreach that characterized Angela Merkel’s sixteen-year rule. The piece concludes that the CDU’s inability to correct this drift could further polarise German politics.