AFP photo.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ruled out resigning on Sept. 7 after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won an election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt by a wide margin, inflicting the Christian Democratic Union’s worst defeat in decades.
“Giving up is not an option for me,” Merz said after a meeting of the CDU’s federal executive board in Berlin.
He said he had been elected for four years and was determined to fulfill his responsibilities.
Merz, who also leads the CDU, appeared alongside Saxony-Anhalt Premier Sven Schulze.
He said the party was deeply shocked by the result and acknowledged that it could not simply return to business as usual.
“This is the worst election defeat the CDU has suffered in years, even decades,” he said.
Merz said Germany needed far-reaching reforms and that the government must do a better job of explaining its decisions and the reasons behind them.
He also pledged to defend the country’s democratic and constitutional order.
According to provisional results from the Sept. 6 vote, the AfD received 43.8 percent, while the CDU fell to 17.2 percent from 37.1 percent in 2021. The Social Democrats came third with 9.3 percent.
The AfD fell short of an outright majority in the state parliament.
