Chancellor Friedrich Merz braces for potential double election blow this weekend as pressure mounts on his leadership
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenAgence France-PressePublished: 2:05pm, 17 Sep 2026Two German state elections Sunday could deal a double blow to embattled Chancellor Friedrich Merz, two weeks after his party suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of the far-right AfD.
Tight races for power – each with their own unique electoral dynamics – are expected in the city state of Berlin and the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The Alternative for Germany is expected to make strong gains in both, a fortnight after it trounced Merz’s centre-right CDU by a margin of almost 44 to 17 per cent in the ex-communist eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The AfD triumph badly rattled Merz and fuelled speculation that the 70-year-old leader, who took power in May last year, may not sit out the end of his four-year term as leader of Europe’s top economy.
