For years, Friedrich Merz battled pervasive doubts about his fitness to lead Germany’s main opposition party.
That changed earlier this week when 1,001 Christian Democrats gathered in Berlin to acclaim the man they now believe will lead them to electoral victory in 2025 and become Germany’s next chancellor.
The CDU is the most popular party in the country, enjoying nearly twice the level of support of Olaf Scholz’s ruling Social Democrats. And Merz, who was re-elected chair with 90 per cent of the vote and pushed through a new programme that recasts the CDU in his own — conservative — image, is its undisputed leader.
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