{"id":1260,"date":"2026-05-27T18:40:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T18:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/05\/27\/merzs-own-party-mulls-dumping-him-media\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T18:40:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T18:40:48","slug":"merzs-own-party-mulls-dumping-him-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=1260","title":{"rendered":"Merz\u2019s own party mulls dumping him \u2013 media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senior CDU figures are reportedly discussing replacing Friedrich Merz with another chancellor candidate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Senior figures within Germany\u2019s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) are allegedly discussing the possible ousting of Chancellor Friedrich Merz due to his record-low approval ratings, according to German media reports.<\/p>\n

According to Bild, talks about potentially \u201cswapping\u201d<\/em> Merz for another chancellor are reportedly taking place within the party\u2019s top ranks, including among regional leaders such as Hendrik Wust of North Rhine-Westphalia, Boris Rhein of Hesse, and Michael Kretschmer of Saxony.<\/p>\n

Wust, who leads Germany\u2019s most populous state, has also been floated by Bild, Focus, and Die Welt as a potential replacement for Merz. Several outlets have described him as Germany\u2019s third most popular politician and the highest-rated CDU figure, while Merz was recently named the world\u2019s most unpopular political leader in a public opinion survey.<\/p>\n

Eckart Lohse, head of the parliamentary editorial office at FAZ, wrote on Wednesday that even CDU members who don\u2019t openly oppose Merz now \u201cconsider the chancellor weak\u201d<\/em> and speak of \u201ca palpable feeling of unease.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"German
Merz ranked most unpopular world leader \u2013 survey<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cFaith in the strength of the federal government and its leader appears to have eroded so much, even within its own ranks, that the dwindling confidence is no longer being concealed,\u201d<\/em> Lohse wrote.<\/p>\n

Other outlets, including Bild and Focus, have described the reported talks about removing the chancellor as \u201crumors,\u201d<\/em> stressing that no concrete plans have emerged so far.<\/p>\n

Since taking office in May of 2025, Merz has stepped up support for Ukraine and accelerated Germany\u2019s rearmament drive. He has pledged to make the Bundeswehr Europe\u2019s \u201cstrongest\u201d<\/em> conventional army, citing what he describes as a growing Russian threat.<\/p>\n

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly dismissed claims that Moscow plans to attack NATO countries as \u201cnonsense,\u201d<\/em> accusing European leaders of using the narrative to distract their citizens from domestic problems.<\/p>\n

Merz has also urged Germans to work more, describing the country\u2019s welfare model as outdated and unsustainable. By mid-April, his disapproval rating had climbed to 76%, with just 19% of Germans satisfied with his performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senior CDU figures are reportedly discussing replacing Friedrich Merz with another chancellor candidate Senior figures…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}