Friedrich Merz has refused to quit as chancellor after a punishing night of state elections delivered a record low for his CDU in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and a dramatic breakthrough for Die Linke in Berlin. The returns, still preliminary on Sunday 20 September 2026, nevertheless exposed the scale of the German leader’s difficulties and strengthened demands that he surrender control of his party.
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the CDU cleared the 5% parliamentary threshold by only a narrow margin, producing its worst result ever in a German state election. The anti-immigration, pro-Kremlin Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) instead came first with nearly 38%, more than twice its previous score in the coastal state. Meanwhile, Die Linke appeared poised to win in Berlin with about 25%, five points ahead of the incumbent CDU, while the AfD also secured a clear double-digit vote.
The result was personal as much as political.
An electoral earthquake in eastern Germany
Merz described the CDU’s showing in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as a “disaster”, but the defeat carried particular resonance because the state included the constituency of his formidable predecessor, Angela Merkel. Merkel governed Germany for 16 years; Merz has now held office for barely 16 months. The contrast has sharpened doubts about whether the chancellor can recover the confidence of voters beyond the CDU’s traditional base.
The AfD’s success marked the third occasion on which the party has become the strongest force in a German state. Yet a firewall