But what fly stung Friedrich Merz? Favorite of the next legislative elections, on February 23, the leader of the Conservative Party (CDU) could have been content to manage his comfortable advance in the polls. But by voting, on January 29, a motion aimed at limiting immigration, this 69 -year -old deputy provoked a political earthquake that could weaken him even before his chancellery. Rejected by his political opponents, his proposals (permanent border controls, repression of paperless asylum seekers) were only adopted with the votes of AFD (alternative für Deutschland). An absolute shock. For the first time since the Second World War, a text was voted across the Rhine thanks to the far right. So far, no party had yet broken the “health cord”.
Why take such a risk, three weeks before the ballot? “Merz wanted to regain control of the campaign, in particular on the migration issue, judge Paul Maurice, secretary general of the Franco-German Relations Studies Committee. The murder of two Germans by an Afghan last week in Aschaffenburg, in Bavaria has certainly played a trigger role. ” In addition, Merz knows his voters, 2 out of 3 believe that AFD should not be let the migratory land alone. At the same time, it is not aware that 72 % of them want to keep the health cord. He therefore – knowingly – played with fire.
An unfortunate precedent
But by wanting to “scrape” voices on the far right, Merz especially disoriented his moderate voters – a height for a man who, upon his arrival at the head of the CDU in 2022, wanted to give him a “compass”. Will they hold it against him? Answer in two weeks. For the moment, the winner of this “big chaos” is the AFD, who has reinforced his second position in the polls.
Thanks to Merz, the far -right party has installed a little more – and standardized – in the political landscape. In this, the conservative leader made a historical error. And finds itself under surveillance. His detractors will not fail to recall that in July 2023, he had suggested “to go ahead” with AFD, if it won a municipal election. Before retracting in front of the outcry. At the time, the political class had minimized the scope of its remarks, because it only concerned local elections. Today they take on a completely different dimension.