Berlin, Feb. 25, (dpa/GNA) – Germany’s conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz, whose centre-right bloc won the country’s election on Sunday, said the country needs swift coalition talks to form a new government as quickly as possible.
Merz is almost certain to replace Scholz as the country’s next chancellor after his Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), finished first with 28.5% of the vote.
His party is widely expected to form a coalition with outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), who slipped to third in the results with just 16.4% of the vote.
“The issues are pressing, they cannot tolerate any delay and that is why I believe it is important that we enter into talks quickly now,” Merz said in Berlin on Tuesday.
He set a goal of finalizing a coalition deal by Easter, but said clarity and agreement must be struck quickly on three major issues in particular: on defence policy and spending, on migration and on economic policy to boost the country’s stagnant economy.
“The situation in the world is changing dramatically every day,” Merz said, and he also added that the German economic situation is “very precarious, very critical and we need to make decisions quickly so that the economy can pick up again over the course of the year.”
Merz visits Scholz in the Chancellery
Earlier in the day, Merz visited Chancellor Olaf Scholz for initial talks, arriving at the Chancellery in Berlin for discussions that are believed to have centred around the transition phase before the formation of the next government.
The talks may have also touched on the possibility of quickly establishing a special fund for defence spending before newly elected lawmakers are seated. That special fund would circumvent strict German balanced budget rules on an area that Merz has considered a top spending priority.
Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) suffered their worst-ever showing, finishing in third with 16.4% of the vote, and are widely expected to become the junior coalition partner in Merz’s future government.
Scholz has previously said he will play no role in those coalition talks but will remain in his post until the next government is formed.
Afterwards, Scholz plans to give up any leadership posts but remain as a backbencher in the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany’s parliament.
Instead, SPD co-chairman Lars Klingbeil has taken the lead in future talks so far, and had an initial discussion with Merz on Monday.
Before meeting with Scholz, Merz met in Berlin with other key leaders in his CDU/CSU bloc, including Bavarian state Premier Markus Söder and CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann.
On Monday, Merz made clear his expectation that Scholz and the outgoing government would no longer make any long-term decisions without his involvement.
“This also applies to personnel decisions,” Merz said.
GNA