Speaking after Frei’s landslide victory, Merz welcomed the result as a sign of unity following weeks of political turbulence but acknowledged that the governing conservatives face a major challenge in rebuilding public trust ahead of upcoming elections, News.Az reports.
“We are, of course, not satisfied with 22-24% in the polls and being only in second place,” Merz said. “We must think together about what we need to do better, what better policy proposals we need to make and how we can regain the trust of people who do not trust us today.”
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Merz said Germany’s Christian Democrats have historically sought to represent the country’s political center and should once again aspire to lead national politics.
“The CDU/CSU has always had the ambition to shape this country. We are not fulfilling that ambition at the moment,” he said.
The chancellor praised Frei’s election as an important signal of stability after former parliamentary leader Jens Spahn stepped down earlier this month.
Frei secured almost 93% of lawmakers’ votes after being jointly nominated by Merz and Bavarian Premier Markus Söder.
Merz also ruled out further government reshuffles despite speculation following the leadership change.
“I think the team we now have in government is the right one to overcome the challenges of the next two and a half years,” he said. “From my perspective, there are no plans for any further personnel changes.”
Instead, he said the coalition’s priority would be implementing reforms while communicating them more effectively to voters.
“We need a better explanation of our goals,” Merz said. “We need to explain more clearly why we are carrying out these reforms.”
The chancellor expressed confidence that the renewed leadership team could inject fresh momentum into the government despite declining public support.
“We must become better,” Merz said. “That is the standard we set for ourselves, and it is the standard the public rightly expects from us.”
