Merz Rules Out Minority Government, Election as Coalition Stalls

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ruled out the possibility of forming a minority government amid a possible breakup of his current two-party coalition, which has slid into a crisis only a year after taking power.

“A minority government is no option for me,” Merz said at a meeting of conservative business leaders in Berlin Tuesday. “I will not hand our country over to radical forces,” the chancellor added with reference to the right-wing AfD, which is currently leading in the polls.