The contenders in Germany’s election made their final appeals to voters Saturday, with opposition leader and front-runner Friedrich Merz vowing to revive the stagnant economy and defend Europe’s interests within the face of a confrontational U.S. administration.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, meanwhile, insisted that he still hopes for an improbable last-minute comeback.
Germans are electing a brand new parliament Sunday after a campaign focused on the state of Europe’s biggest economy and calls to curb migration, while uncertainty has grown rapidly concerning the way forward for Ukraine and the strength of Europe’s alliance with the US.
It appears to have done little to shift parties’ position in polls. They’ve consistently shown the center-right opposition, fundamental challenger Merz’s Union bloc, within the lead. It’s ahead of the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, which is on track for the strongest result for a far-right party since World War II, but has no other party willing to enter government with it.
Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats have shown little sign of getting back from a big poll deficit after the chancellor’s three-party coalition collapsed in November following a long-running argument about the best way to revitalize the economy. That led to the election being held seven months ahead of schedule.
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At a closing rally in a Munich beer hall, Merz told supporters that “three years in opposition are enough.”
Germany is a standard leader of the 27-nation EU and the bloc’s most populous member, but like fellow heavyweight France has been consumed in recent months by domestic instability. Merz said that “with me, Germany can have a powerful voice within the European Union again.”
“Europe should be a player and never ask possibly to get a seat at a side table,” he said. “No, we must sit on the fundamental table; and we must safeguard our interests against Russia, against China, and if needed also with respect to America.”
“Anyone who shows up there as a dwarf is treated as a dwarf and sent home as a dwarf,” Merz added.
He said, nonetheless, that “we’ll only gain respect on this European Union again if … we finally overcome our country’s economic weakness.” He said that was “overwhelmingly homemade.”
Merz also underscored his calls for a tougher stance on migration, which created friction in recent weeks. Last month, he brought a nonbinding motion calling for a lot of more migrants to be turned back at Germany’s borders to parliament. The motion was approved due to votes from Alternative for Germany, or AfD — a primary in postwar Germany that prompted opponents to accuse Merz of breaking a taboo. He rejects the criticism.
“We’ll certainly not discuss any talks, never mind negotiations or a participation in government, with AfD,” Merz said Saturday.
At an event in Potsdam, which he represents in parliament, Scholz again solid doubt on Merz’s reliability and portrayed his party because the strongest bulwark against AfD playing any role.
“Anyone who desires to be certain this doesn’t occur must be certain that there are strong Social Democrats and that they’ll provide the subsequent chancellor,” Merz said.
On the sidelines of an earlier event in Potsdam, Scholz said that he was “convinced that, this time, many individuals will only make their decision on the polling station.”
“I don’t consider in miracles, but in an election victory,” he said, German news agency dpa reported.
If Merz does win, it’s unclear whether he’ll have the ability to place together a two-party coalition or need a 3rd partner, a more awkward prospect.
“If we govern, we’d like few partners and never an countless variety of them,” senior conservative ally Markus Söder said in Munich.
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