Elections pile pressure on German Chancellor

Pete Ross (0:00)

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Pete Ross, and in the early hours of Monday the 21st of September, these are our main stories. Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz has described the results of a state election as a disaster for his party, as the far-right AFD continues to make gains. US officials say 18 suspects in the assassination of the Haitian president, Juvenal Moise, five years ago, have been flown from Haiti to Florida for trial. Also in this podcast, there's an outcry in Barcelona over plans to expand the airport.

Alba Bojorda (0:34)

The quality of the air and the quality of the water of our natural area has decreased and decreased and decreased.

Pete Ross (0:42)

And Donald Trump reveals more details about his controversial plans to build a triumphant arch in Washington, DC.

We begin in Germany, where the embattled Chancellor Friedrich Merz is fighting for his political survival. As we record this podcast, preliminary results from two state elections on Sunday suggest damaging defeats for a centre-right Christian Democratic Union party. In one of them, in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg, western Pomerania, the CDU may have dipped below the threshold needed to stay in parliament. The far-right Alternative für Deutschland, or AFD, is on track to win the most votes there. Not long ago, the party was on the fringes of German politics, but its anti-immigration agenda has proved popular, and it's fast emerging as a major force. Mr Merz admitted that the result was hugely damaging for his party, but has vowed to stay in office.

Friedrich Merz (1:43)

Today we've seen two elections with very different results. We can't sugarcoat the results in Mecklenburg, west Pomerania. It's a disaster.

The CDU fought, but ultimately got squeezed between SPD and the AFD.

Pete Ross (1:58)

Leif-Erik Holm is the AFD candidate for Premier in the state.

Leif-Erik Holm (2:04)

We've seen that people want change.

That too is clearly reflected in the numbers. We are in the lead and of course we want to remain in the lead by the end of the evening. We want to become the strongest force. We have the mandate to govern here in Mecklenburg, western Pomerania.

Pete Ross (2:23)

The other state election was in Berlin where the CDU also performed poorly. Our Berlin correspondent Jessica Parker spoke to us from the capital there as results were coming in.

Jessica Parker (2:33)

The initial exit poll drops showed Die Linke, the left party, coming out ahead in Berlin, therefore potentially squeezing a second place Conservative CDU party out of a future coalition. Talks will obviously now need to happen as is per usual in German politics.

And then in Mecklenburg-Borpommern, as we've been hearing, no one expected the CDU to do well, it's not a strong state for them. But being around that 5% threshold where if you fall below it, you don't even get into the state parliament, that's pretty disastrous for the CDU and a record low result. And I think the one that Friedrich Merz has basically described as a disaster for them, a lot of people are saying he needs to answer this as the leader of his party. One CDU official I spoke to earlier in the week said he thought it was a tricky situation, but maybe Friedrich Merz did need to go and this idea of a Kanzler Tausch, a Chancellor swap where someone else within the CDU could maybe take Friedrich Merz's place. I put basically the same question to a man called Burghard Degger, the member of the CDU in Berlin and asked him if Merz should stay.

Burkhard Draeger (3:40)

Yeah, of course he should. He has a lot of work to do and we don't have time to waste to form a new government in the federal level. So let him continue his job. It's very important and I trust in him that he will be able to do the necessary forms which are necessary to bring Germany again in the lead in Europe.

Jessica Parker (4:02)

Aren't you worried that he is personally so unpopular and he has failed to do what he wanted to do, which was to counter the rise of Alternativa for Deutschland?

Burkhard Draeger (4:13)

Yeah, I think the Germans are very impatient at the moment. The Chancellor is in office for a little bit more than one year and it's not realistic to expect that every issue has been solved within one year. He has got four years and we have to give him the four years.

I'm very confident that they will deliver with the necessary reforms.

Pete Ross (4:39)

That was the CDU politician, Burkhard Draeger, ending that interview with Jessica Parker in Berlin.