Merz Conservative Leaders To Be Elected Chancellor Of Germany?

Friedrich Merz. (Wikimedia Commons/European People's Party)

JAKARTA - Friedrich Merz of the conservative party has the opportunity to be elected Chancellor of Germany on Tuesday, as the country's economy struggles with slump, relations with the United States that are strained and soaring right-wing groups.

Lawmakers are widely expected to support Merz as chancellor in a vote in the lower house of parliament, after his conservative CDU/CSU group, which won the February federal election, secured a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democratic Party.

Pressure is increasing for Merz to show leadership, following the collapse of Chancellor SPD's three-way coalition Olaf Scholz last November which left a political void in Europe's heart, as the country faces various crises.

"People have been asking Germany to take the lead for a long time, and there is no longer any room not to heed the call," German Marshall Fund of the United States said.

"Everything that has been the basis of postwar Germany in the last eight decades is no longer a problem, be it open markets and free trade, as well as the presence of US security in Europe," he added.

The German coalition deal has mapped plans to revive growth such as reducing the company's taxes and lowering energy prices. The deal also promises strong support for Ukraine and increased military spending.

Although Merz is a seasoned politician who started his career as a member of European parliament in the 1980s, he still has to prove his ability to rule because he has never held a government post.

After losing power struggle with arch rival Angela Merkel in 2002, she spent more than a decade working in the private sector before returning to top-level politics.

After losing the race for a wealthy West German lawyer and Catholic and a hobby pilot who served for four years as chairman of the BlackRock fund management division in Germany, Merz was widely considered an antithesis, both in style and policy, of the 16-year-old woman who led Germany.

If Merkel is a pragmatic quiet character who shifts conservatives further into the middle, Merz is a provocative economic liberal who has pulled the block back to the right.

Merz supporters highlight the fact that he secured a historic fiscal package to increase spending on infrastructure and defense even before taking office.

Critics say it is only necessary because of its uncertain decision to push for an antimigration motion through parliament with the support of Alternative for Germany, which violates taboos on cooperation with the far-right.

The decision increased support for AfD and the left-wing Left party, which jointly gained enough support to be able to block the easing of German fiscal rules in the next parliament.