With his party at the top of the Snap Election survey by Germany, Friedrich Merz seems to fulfill his lifelong ambition to become Chancellor of Germany.
It has not been an easy way for Merz to reach this point.
The politician was a banker -as if his chance of leading Germany had passed when he left politics completely after a bitter power struggle between himself and Angela Merkel almost 20 years ago.
But in a remarkable political comeback, the 69-year-old now looks like he was at the distance of the Chancellor after his party, the CDU, won 29 percent of the votes in the elections of 23 February.
Born in 1955 in what was then West -Germany, Merz had an early interest in politics.
An avid anti -communist, he joined the youth wing of the conservative CDU when he was still in school.
After a short angel in the army, he studied to become a lawyer before establishing a career as a politician.
In 1989 he was elected as a member of the European Parliament and five years later he won a seat in the Bundestag, where he quickly settled as a leading member of the more right-wing pro-business wing of the CDU.
In a remarkable political comeback, Friedrich Merz looks like he is at the distance of the Chancellor after his party, the CDU, has obtained 29 percent of the votes in Sunday's election
Merz with Angela Merkel In the early 2000s during this period, the couple was locked up in a bitter power struggle for control over the CDU
Merz kisses his wife Charlotte during a campaign event in February 2025
He also developed a close relationship with Wolfgang Schäuble – who led the party from 1991 to 2000 in the German parliament – which made him in good step to become the CDU's candidate for Chancellor in a future election.
In a power struggle that followed between Merz and Merkel for leadership of the party, the Merkel and her more central allies who came at the top were.
After which Merz took a backseat in German politics, he saw no role for himself in Merkel's CDU and later he started criticizing Merkel's leadership about the party that hit it as 'inactive'. It is generally known that the couple were never on the best conditions.
Merz then left the parliament in 2009 and, instead, first entered the private sector as a lawyer, while he also took the helm of Atlantik-Brücke, a lobby that argued the transatlantic tires.
He then sat on a series of industrial councils that he claimed to offer him valuable experience outside of politics and also led the father of three to become a renowned multimillionary.
When Merkel announced that she left politics in 2018, Merz saw the opportunity to return to politics.
Rending on a right -wing platform, he failed to win the leadership of the party in two attempts. After the bruises of the party in the 2021 elections, which ended uninterrupted government for almost 20 years, Merz finally won leadership of his party.
As the leader of the CDU, Merz tried to stop bleeding to the extreme right-wing AfD by bringing the positions of the party away from centralism that defined the Merkel government.
Merz in 2003. He left the parliament in 2009 and instead first entered the private sector as a lawyer while he also took over the helm of Atlantik-Brücke, a lobby that argued transatlantic tires
Merz's supporters. As leader of the CDU, Merz tried to stop bleeding to the extreme right-wing AfD by bringing the position of the party from centrism that defined the Merkel government
Merz drinks a beer after the exit survey has been released. Merz is now confronted with the task of building a coalition government that can last for weeks if not months with Merz who says tonight that the negotiations can continue for Easter
He has thrown away the Merkel era policy on migration to have millions of refugees from Syria and elsewhere in Germany.
Earlier this year, he was convicted by other politicians – including Merkel – for voting with the AfD about an immigration account that broke the so -called firewall in German politics, where moderate parties refuse to work with the extreme right.
Since the last elections, the once powerful German economy, which the EU has sent through the euro crisis, has stagnated since the start of the Ukraine war with the Government of Scholz who has difficulty revitalizing in Europe's largest economy.
Hoping Merz has revived the economic fortune of Germany, Merz has hinted that he could remove the 'debt brake' that strictly stuck how much Berlin can borrow.
If he relaxes the policy, the money could open for investments in the creaking infrastructure of the country, which was once the envy of the world, but has been suffering from a lack of financing for decades.
A self -described atlanticist, who claims to have visited America more than 100 times, seems to be somewhat miscast for the current era that has become icy since Trump returned to the White House.
Merz criticized Trump because he blamed Ukraine for the war and went so far that he claims that Trump “doesn't care about Europe.”
Speaking on a TV panel after the exit poll, he said: 'I never thought I should say something like that on television, but after the statements of Donald Trump last week it is clear: this American government does not care about Europe. '
Merz and Merkel in 2000. He was critical of Merkel's leadership about the party that hit it as 'inactive'. It is generally known that the couple were never on the best conditions
Here is the last projection of what the German parliament could look like after the vote in the elections of 23 February
Merz is now confronted with the task of building a coalition government that can last for weeks if not for months, where Merz said that the negotiations can continue for Easter.
He has excluded a coalition with the AfD. The The most expected outcome of this election is a coalition of Merz's CDU with the SPD in an uncomfortable 'Grand Coalition'.
Other coalition options are the 'Kenya Coalition' – named after the colors on the Kenyan flag, which the greens could see at the government.
Or when the FDP enters the parliament, they can form a government with the CDU and Groenen in a so -called 'Jamaica Coalition'.
Away from his career and politics, Merz has been married to his wife Charlotte Gass since 1981 and the couple has three children.
Merz is also a sharp kite and Mrs. Merz reportedly stopped him to buy a private jet until his children had moved.
He is said to have two now.
