German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is considering asking the collective leadership bodies of his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party to indirectly confirm their confidence in him, as the party grapples with falling support in recent elections and in opinion polls.
According to the German magazine Stern and the website Table.Media, Merz plans to present the CDU executive committee with an ultimatum on Sunday evening, after state elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin. He intends to ask the committee to agree to a single reform course under his leadership or he will submit his resignation immediately, the reports said. Merz does not intend to resign voluntarily from his post.
Emergency meeting called
Stern reported that members of the CDU executive committee have already received an invitation to a meeting at 5pm local time on Sunday. The gathering comes as the chancellor faces what the report described as a particularly difficult climate inside his own party, driven by the CDU's declining results in recent elections and its slipping ratings in opinion polls.
Tax cuts and energy prices on the agenda
Table.Briefing reported that Merz is rumoured to also lay out points for the CDU to open talks with its governing coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD). These points reportedly include higher tax relief and measures to lower energy prices.
Through this move, the chancellor is aiming to secure the backing of three influential state premiers, Hendrik Wüst of North Rhine-Westphalia, Daniel Günther of Schleswig-Holstein and Boris Rhein of Hesse, all senior CDU figures whose support would strengthen his position within the party.
UN trip postponed
Merz has postponed his departure for the United Nations General Assembly in New York so that he can attend a meeting of the CDU's parliamentary group on Tuesday, according to the reports.
Merz, who leads the CDU, became German chancellor in May 2025 at the head of a coalition government with the SPD. The CDU is Germany's main centre-right party and has long been one of the two dominant forces in German politics alongside the SPD.
