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https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/11/01/merz-n01.html

Influential business, political and media circles are using the political crisis following the Grand Coalition government’s election disaster in Bavaria and Hesse to bring about a sharp shift to the right in German politics. This is the background to Friedrich Merz’s candidature to be party chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the media hype being organised around him.

After Chancellor Angela Merkel’s announcement that she would resign as party leader at the CDU party conference on December 8, the Bild, Handelsblatt and Welt newspapers announced on Monday that Merz would apply for CDU chairmanship. On Tuesday, Merz announced his candidacy himself. On Wednesday, he held a press conference in Berlin.

Since then, leading media outlets have feverishly promoted him. Merz is being celebrated as a “saviour” who “electrifies” the party. Flash polls predict he will have high approval ratings. Regional conferences and even a vote inside the party are also under discussion in order to elect Merz as the new CDU chairman. It is an open secret that his real goal is not the CDU headquarters, but the chancellery.