Archive · Guardian World

Friedrich Merz vows to stay in office after CDU ‘disaster’ in German state elections

Global Published 20 September 2026, 23:33 · archived 20 Sep 2026

Far-right AfD wins in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and leftwing Die Linke on course for victory in BerlinGermany’s embattled chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has vowed to stay in office and fight for future-proofing economic reforms despite heavy losses for his conservatives in two state elections, one to the far right and the other to a leftwing party.Preliminary results indicated Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) tallied just over the 5% threshold to enter the state parliament in the coastal region of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, its worst-ever state score, which he called a “disaster”. ...

ZAZTEK archives the headline, summary and publication date so the story stays findable. The full article remains the publisher's. Read it at Guardian World →