Friedrich Merz campaigning at a Christian Democratic Union rally in Potsdam, Germany, on Sept. 21.
Photographer: Yen Duong/BloombergGerman Front-Runner for Chancellor Wants to Bury Merkel’s Legacy
Friedrich Merz, the conservative candidate for the chancellery, plans to deregulate the ailing economy and reverse his predecessor’s migration policy.
Germany’s last conservative leader, Angela Merkel, built her legacy on policies normally associated with the left: saving the Euro by bailing out Greece and refusing to turn away hundreds of thousands of migrants.
Now, with Germany one year away from a national election, Friedrich Merz, her fellow Christian Democrat and longtime rival, is aiming to unseat Chancellor Olaf Scholz — and undo Merkel’s open-door migration policy — with a far more right-wing agenda.