The conservative turn

• Friedrich Merz, leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Austrian sister party, Christian Social Union, criticized the rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Germany’s Feb. 23 election.
• Despite a strong stance against coalitions with the AfD, Merz was happy to receive support from the AfD, breaking the ‘Brandmauer’ firewall that political parties have maintained with the right-wing post-Second World War.
• Merz’s tougher stance on immigration is seen as an attempt to gain some right-wing voters, especially in east Germany.
• Merz’s pledge to impose permanent border controls with all neighbours and refuse all attempts at illegal entry was a response to a knife attack by an Afghan immigrant in Aschaffenburg.
• Merz was born into an affluent family and joined the CDU as a young boy.
• After the rise to power of CDU stalwart Angela Merkel, Merz resigned from politics in 2009 and went back to practising corporate law.
• Merz served on the board of many multinational companies and trusts before his return to the CDU in 2018.
• Merz’s bid for leadership of the CDU was thwarted twice — once in 2018 and the other in January 2021.
• Merz has promised to deliver a major boost to Germany’s economy by cutting down expenses on bureaucracy.
• He is also an avid supporter of Israel, inviting the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, to Germany after he becomes Chancellor in open defiance of the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Mr. Netanyahu.