German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced at the Political Ash Wednesday in Trier his intention to seek a second term after the 2029 federal election. The 70-year-old cited his father's longevity and called for greater work ethic. The CDU is also preparing for its party congress in Stuttgart.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) stated at the Political Ash Wednesday in Trier that he intends to seek a second term after the 2029 federal election. "I have already planned to do this for a longer time," said the 70-year-old, noting that his father turned 102 in January. Merz, who turned 70 on November 11, is the oldest chancellor since Konrad Adenauer, who left office at age 87 in 1963.
Addressing Gordon Schnieder, the CDU top candidate for the Rhineland-Palatinate state election on March 22, Merz expressed hope: "If we stand here again, say in five years, then I want us both together, you as minister-president, me in office as federal chancellor, to look back and say: Those were tough times, but we then [...] made the right decisions."
CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann recently attested to Merz's good prospects for a long career. "He said it himself: His father is over 100 years old, his mother just under," Linnemann told the 'Stern' magazine. "So he has the genes to make politics for a very long time." However, Linnemann considered a debate on a renewed chancellorship candidacy premature: "I assume so, but that's not a question that arises in 2026."
On Friday, Merz will seek re-election as party leader for the third time at the CDU party congress in Stuttgart. In previous elections, he received 94.6 percent in 2022, later 95.3 percent, and 89.8 percent in 2024. For comparison, CSU leader Markus Söder achieved 83.6 percent in December.
In Trier, Merz called for a change in mentality: "Lifestyle and four-day week. All nice, you can do everything. But if we want to preserve our prosperity, then we all have to put our foot on the pedal now [...] Not with coercion, not with pressure, not with new laws, but simply with cheerfulness at work." He had already stated in his first government declaration in May that Germans must work more. In January, a motion from the CDU economic wing sparked debate on part-time work, now formulated without the term 'lifestyle part-time.'
The Stuttgart congress will also discuss content, including housing market ideas, a sugar tax (rejected by the party leadership), and an age limit of 16 for social media (supported by Merz). Some motions could strain the coalition with the SPD, such as those on sick notes or cannabis legalization.
