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The leaders of eight German states, all from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union, declared that restoring public trust in the party lies in listening and taking political action rather than debates over personnel. They emphasised that now more than ever Germany’s political landscape needs stability and that the country will continue to need a stable and effective federal government with its own majority in the Bundestag. The statement was signed by the premiers of Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia, according to the joint declaration reported by Reuters.
The declaration arrived days after the CDU plummeted to 17.2 percent in the Saxony-Anhalt state election at the beginning of September while the Alternative for Germany secured 43.8 percent, official results cited by the BBC showed. This outcome marked the first time since World War Two that a far-right party has come close to controlling a German state and triggered intensified speculation about a possible chancellor swap. Bloomberg reported that the poor performance has left Merz, who has been in office for 16 months, facing mounting questions over his leadership.
Hendrik Wüst of North Rhine-Westphalia, one of the names mentioned as a potential successor, joined the other seven premiers in signing the document that committed them to working together with the chancellor. Merz welcomed the support, with his office telling the German Press Agency that the premiers were demonstrating their responsibility for Germany, according to a report in Die Zeit. A special CDU meeting has been called for Sunday to coordinate the party’s response to election results in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, where further losses are expected, a party source told Reuters.
Markus Söder, the premier of Bavaria and leader of the CDU’s sister party the CSU, has also voiced his backing for Merz and urged an end to personnel discussions, Deutsche Welle reported. The joint statement pointed to upcoming elections in Poland, Italy, Spain, Greece and France next year in which the political establishment faces far-right challenges. It added that the CDU has stood like no other party for the success model of German coalition democracy, according to the text published by Bild.
The premiers stressed that people can trust the party to address their problems and that as state leaders they want and will do their part alongside the chancellor. Merz has cancelled a planned trip to New York for the UN General Assembly next week to focus on the domestic situation, German media outlets including the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported. The move comes as the party braces for additional electoral tests this weekend, the Guardian noted in its coverage of the statement.
No CDU member has yet publicly challenged Merz, although speculation has included Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt as a possible contender, according to the BBC. The state premiers’ intervention aims to project unity at a time when the far-right’s rise in eastern states has exposed vulnerabilities within the conservative bloc. The declaration concluded that reliability and decisive action are required to rebuild confidence ahead of broader European political shifts.
