The “Metamorphoses’ of Would be CDU Chancellor Friederich Merz and the 2025 German Federal Elections
Adapted from John Heartfiield August 14, 1934 Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung (AIZ, Prague) showing the “straight-line from Ebert to Hindenburg to Hitler”; For Ebert see Alice Weidel, and for Hindenburg see Friederich Merz. John Heartfiield (1891-1968) (Wikipedia page) was the great anti-fascist originator of the art of photomontage, working closely with the Communist Party of Germany in fighting against Hitler. The AIZ was a weekly communist magazine.
This issue contains two items. First a brief background description of some recent events preceding Federal Elections in Germany that have made for the ‘normalisation’ of the fascist party – the so-called “Alternative for Germany” – or AfD; and; Secondly a call from Arbeit Zukunft (Workers Future “Organisation fur “Aufbau Einer Kommunistischen Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands” [Organisation to build a German Communist Workers Party” at a recent march in Stuttgart. Arbeit Zukunft are founder members of Internationalen Konferenz der Marxistisch-Leninistischen Parteien und Organisationen, IKMLPO.
Brief Background – Metamorphosing the bourgeois German Parties – Dropping the ‘Firewall’
i) Germany approaches Federal Elections on February 23rd 2025, after Olaf Scholz falls
The new election follows on the heel of the fall of the so-called ‘Ampel Coalition’ which was led by Olaf Scholz (Social Democratic Party) as the Chancellor. This three-party coalition was the first in post-war history – and was together with the Greens (led by Robert Habeck) and the FDP (Free Democratic Party led by Christian Lindner). Lindner was sacked basically for his deviousness, which meant the Ampel majority was lost. He had been plotting the fall of Scholz’s government, and this reflected his long-standing refusal to enable freeing budget items for social welfare:
“The collapse of the so-called traffic-light coalition followed months of quarreling over the budget and funding the country’s huge investment needs, defence and social spending.”
Anne-Sylvaine Chassany and Laura Pitel; “Germany headed for early elections after Olaf Scholz loses confidence vote”; Financial Times December 16, 2024.
Scholz had come to power vowing to lead in a “green industrial revolution”. But this came smack against the energy shortages after the Russian Putinite imperialist invasion of Ukraine, with resulting sanctions.
This in turn led to the so-called “Zeitenwende” or turn, to massively arming the State. That repudiated the post-2nd World War restraint on massive arms spending. This also led to a crisis of energy needs, which was largely overcome by purchasing the USA supply of LNG fuel. However together with arms funding to Ukraine, there was a serious deficit of accounts.
Since by law there was a so-called ‘Schuldbremse’ or ‘debt limit’ on which a brake’ must be put. That brake was supposed to prevent the federal government going into ‘excessive debt’. ON this issue the FDP part of the Ampel ruling coalition attacked. Much of the ruling financial class itself accepts this is no longer in line with the type of Keynesian debt requirements utilised by other Western governments. Actually the “debt-brake” was a neo-liberal relic left over from the prior Chancellor, Angela Merkel:
“The debt brake, a constitutional provision introduced under former chancellor Angela Merkel in 2009, prevents regional governments from taking on any new debt and the federal state from borrowing more than 0.35 per cent of GDP in any given year.”
Anne-Sylvaine Chassany, Laura Pitel, Olaf Storbeck, Clara Murray and William Crofton; “How Germany declined under Olaf Scholz”; Financial Times; January 16 2025
Since the Ampel Government had exceeded that limit, it was called to account by the courts:
“Scholz’s government, which took office in December 2021, had vowed to usher in a green industrial revolution for the Eurozone country. But the plans were derailed when Russia invaded Ukraine three months later, forcing Berlin to reverse decades of reliance on Russian gas and overturn its defence and foreign policy. Scholz dubbed the challenge a “Zeitenwende”, or turning point in history, allocating €100bn to modernise the military and supplying weapons to Ukraine. … Scholz suffered one of his biggest setbacks when the country’s constitutional court invalidated the coalition’s budget in November 2023. The court ruled that it violated a constitutional provision that limits new public borrowing to 0.35 per cent of GDP a year. The decision led to a €60bn hole in the country’s public finances and to more feuding between the fiscally conservative FDP and its coalition partners in the SPD and the Greens.”
Anne-Sylvaine Chassany and Laura Pitel; “Germany headed for early elections after Olaf Scholz loses confidence vote”; Financial Times December 16, 2024.
Therefore Scholz’s government fell. The bourgeois press largely give three main reasons as being the cause.
First was the budget over-shoot deemed as illegal by the courts; secondly the evident treacherous behaviour of Lindner the FDP leader; but an issue also became an increasing focus – the issue of immigration.
However in reality, the real reason was to put it bluntly – the severe crisis of German capital. True, the bourgeois press notes the severe crisis situation facing the German capitalist class. But it cannot accept that these are intrinsic to capital. Rather they argue the problems are fixable.
ii) German Capital falls behind
However the objective situation of German capitalism is dire. We have previously pointed out that the German capital had come to a decision point after Merkel’s step down (Berlin Left 20th November 2022).
A fundamental issue dividing the German capitalist class was how much to put their bets on China and how much to bend to the USA mandate. Scholz was trying hard to foster a putative third path to blunt American “protectionism” (Berlin Left 8th March 2023). Since that time however, German capital has found itself floundering:
“Germany’s industrial output has fallen by 15% since 2018, and the total number of people employed in the manufacturing sector is down 3%. Manufacturers in Germany’s metal and electrical industry, weighed down by costs, could lay off as many as 300,000 workers over the next five years, said Stefan Wolf, president of a lobby group for the sector. “Deindustrialization is in full swing,” said Wolf, adding that over €300 billion in investment capital has flowed out of Germany since 2021. “
Tom Fairless and Bertrand Benoit, “Germany’s Economic Model Is Broken, and No One Has a Plan B”; Wall St J; Jan. 26, 2025
As the following graph makes clear, the number of service jobs has in fact grown somewhat between 2023-2024. But what is evident is the drastic fall in the industrial economy and in construction, as well as in low-paid ‘temporary employment’:
From: Laura Pitel and Patricia Nilsson; “German job cuts darken mood of election campaign”; Financial Times; 3 December 2024.
This builds up into the cumulative picture as seen in the faltering of the growth curve of the GDP of Germany.
From: Anne-Sylvaine Chassany ; “Can Friedrich Merz still fix Germany?” Financial Times; 5 Feb 2025
In this current scenario, that section of the capitalist class that wishes to maintain a certain distance from the complete engulfment by USA capital, has been unable to prevent the bloom of the Christian Democrat Union (CDU) under Friederich Merz. Merz will be – once in power as Chancellor – even more flagrantly following a pro-USA policy.
Of course this comes at the time that newly elected President Trump is reasserting a renewed aggressive push of USA imperialism.
The CDU is in prime position to win the Chancellorship. To do this, they have especially aggressively played the anti-immigration card. In this article, we only discuss this topic in as much as it allows us to outline events leading up to the elections. A more comprehensive look at this topic in relation especially to Germany is in the midst of preparation.
iii) Who is Friedrich Merz?
Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz became the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) after January 2022. He heads the coalition of the CDU and its parliamentary liason with its’ sister party the Christian Social Union based in Bavaria (CSU). Since September 2024, he is their Chancellor candidate in the fothcoming federal election.
Merz has long been long associated with the hard neo-austerity wing of German capital. He was after all mentored by Wolfgang Schauble who was instrumental in the Greek Debt crisis of 2015 (‘The Greek Debt Crisis: A Misnomer for the European Imperialist Crisis
At Red Phoenix August 22, 2015,). Later Merz was the “head of the supervisory board of the German branch of BlackRock. As Deutsche Welle reported it in 2018, this was then:
“the biggest asset management corporation in the world, which controls some $6.3 trillion (€5.56 trillion) in assets — twice Germany’s gross domestic product.” Ben Knight “Merkel rival’s deep ties to shadow banks and ‘dark pools’”; DW
Reuters crisply summarises Merz’s trajectory:
“A protege of Wolfgang Schauble, finance minister and icon of fiscal conservatism, Merz rose to CDU parliamentary leader in the 2000s, before becoming one of several powerful men dispatched by Merkel. He quit parliament after she became chancellor and has never held government office. He worked for 15 years as a lobbyist and board member in companies including the Germany branches of asset manager Blackrock and HSBC bank, as well as the publicly-owned Cologne-Bonn airport. Merz is a hobby pilot who owns two aeroplanes.”
Thomas Escritt; “Who is Friedrich Merz, the veteran politician tipped to be Germany’s next chancellor?” Reuters; December 11, 2024
iv) The Afd (Alternative fuel Deutschland”
The AfD was founded in April 2013, as a right split from the CDU by Alexander Gauland and Bernd Lucke. Its platform began as anti-Eurozone faction, but quickly adopted anti-immigration and anti-social welfare policies. It quickly became the largest openly fascist party in Germany. By 2017 it had won representation in many of the Lander regional governments (States) and in that year won 12% of the vote with 94 seats in the Federal Elections. It is now the second most popular party as estimated by several polls.
Although it had dropped to 10.3% of the vote in 2017, it became the largest party in Eastern states of Saxony and Thuringia. As its leaders became more assured, they made international alliances with other right wing organisations. Most closely with the Austrian so-called “Freedom Party of Austria” (FPÖ). They moved by November 2023 to holding joint secret meetings with members of the Austrian Nazi movement including Martin Sellner (Wikipedia page). At the Potsdam 2023 meeting, they discussed together how to implement “remigration” – a notion that Sellner has been fervently pushing.
By 2016 the party was demanding a ban on “Islamic symbols” including calls to prayer by Imams, burqas and minarets – saying “Islam is not part of Germany”.
Long known to intimidate progressive and immigrant organisations, it came under an intense degree of police scrutiny. The AfD challenged attempts to label it as a threat to democracy. But in May 2024, the High Court endorsed the Intelligence agency’s on-going surveillance of the AfD:
“Intelligence authorities are justified in classifying the far-right Alternative for Germany party and its youth wing as suspected extremist organizations, a German high court ruled Monday. The ruling rejected an appeal by the AfD that would have stopped intelligence agents from surveilling the party.”
Pierre Emmanuel Ngendakumana; “Germany’s domestic intelligence agency can continue to surveil far-right AfD, high court rules”: Politico; May 13 2024
Unsurprisingly this view of the AFD as dangerous is not held by Elon Musk. His long-distance by zoom ra-ra-ing of fascism extended to a long conversation with Alice Weidel (Currently one of two leaders) involved both making highly “misleading” comments. Amongst these was Weidel asserting with ‘conviction’ for example that Hitler was ‘not a fascist but a communist’:
“several wildly misleading claims — at one stage, Musk said that theft was legal in California, while Weidel insisted that Adolf Hitler was a communist.“
Ben Knight, “Elon Musk praises Alice Weidel’s far-right AfD in X chat”; Deutsches Welle 10 January 2025
(v) The “Brandmauer” or firewall and Merz’s metamorphosis
The concept of a ‘firewall Brandmauer’ against the AfD was originally meant to align with Germany’s “Basic Law” that was adopted to supposedly guard democracy. In reality the ‘Basic Law’ was a USA booby-trap. At the end of WWII, it was laid down in the new constitution for West Germany, after the division of Germany by the Western imperialists. It was designed to build a perpetual divide between Länder and the Federal State, to prevent an overwhelming majority being built. But more broadly, the ‘firewall’ is based on a bourgeois interpretation that German history and experience in other countries, showed that extremist parties gained power not by forcible coups but though the exercise of a liberal democracy. Nonetheless the ‘firewall’ did serve a potential value if the AfD was not going to be banned.
In Germany, all main parties largely adhered to this firewall. The CDU adopted a resolution in 2018 not to cooperate with the AfD. It was reaffirmed at several points thereafter.
But in particular, in the Eastern parts of Germany the principle became eroded. Especially after Thomas Kemmerich was elected Minister President of Thuringia with both AfD and CDU support in 2020. In fact Merz explicitly exempted local district council cooperation with the AfD:
“23 July 2023: “The AfD will not participate in a government, at least not with us,” says Merz about the firewall against the AfD. He formulates one restriction for the local level: “We are of course obliged to accept democratic elections. And if a district administrator or a mayor is elected who belongs to the AfD, it is natural that we will look for ways to continue working in this city.”
Evelin Ruhnow; Evelin Ruhnow “Verhältnis von Union und AfDMerz und die Brandmauer – eine Geschichte in Zitaten’ 31.01.2025; Der Speigel;
This is seen from examinations of municipal council meetings at district level. One study for example examined “all Eastern German states from mid-2019 to mid 2024”, with a total of 2,452 meetings – the Afd put 2,348 proposals and obtained 484 cases of cooepration with other parties or 20.6%. Most of those were with the CDU.
Wolfgang Schroeder, Daniel Ziblatt, Florian Bochert; “Brandmauer – Still ALive. Empirical Findings on Support for the AfD by Established Parties in Eastern Germany (2019-2024); WZB Berlin Social Science Center; 2024;
Evelin Ruhnow surveys Merz’s historical positions on collaboration with the AfD. These positions yo-yo between denying the CDU would work with the AfD – to an enabling of the AfD, according to any short-term opportunist goal he had. However, the overall trajectory has been to ‘stel the clothes’ of the AfD. It is useless to review all quotes from Ruhnow’s survey (cited above, linked to Der Speigel) .But a few of the article’s quotes are worthy of comment (all are from Ruhnow):
Merz rejects a ban on the AfD on 15 December 2022:
Friedrich Merz speaks out against a ban procedure and in favor of a political confrontation with the AfD: “I don’t think much of such ban procedures,” he says. “They reorganize themselves the next day and join a different party. And then the game starts all over again.” At the beginning of his term as party leader, he promised “a firewall to the AfD.”
Merz argued on 20 July 2023, that it was not the AfD who was “really an alternative for Germany” but the CDU was that – unfortunate phrasing or a delibrate intent to steal the clothes of the AfD?
“The Union should “really be an alternative for Germany,” [Alternative für Deutschland] he said during the summer retreat of the sister party CSU, adding: “with substance.”
Merz argued that the label of “Nazi” did not apply to the AfD, on 22 January 2024:
“The Nazi club doesn’t get us anywhere,” said the CDU leader, rejecting his party colleague Hendrik Wüst, who described the AfD as a “highly dangerous Nazi party.” “Of course there are real National Socialists there. But that doesn’t mean that the voters of this party are all Nazis,” said Merz.”
And yet, on 11 January 2025, Merz was clear that the AfD housed “criminals”:
“I’m repeating it here for you to write down. There will be no cooperation with the CDU in Germany under my leadership,” said Merz, referring to the government crisis in Austria, about cooperation with the AfD. “We will not work with a party that is xenophobic, that is anti-Semitic, that has right-wing radicals in its ranks, that has criminals in its ranks, a party that flirts with Russia and wants to leave NATO and the European Union.” He makes maintaining the firewall a top priority: “I tie my fate as party leader of the CDU to this answer.”
By 24 January 2025, there had been two violent attacks on civilians. One was a car attack at a Christmas fair in Magedeburg in December 2024 (“Magdeburg: Rechter AfD-Sympathisant ermordet 5 Menschen”; Arbeit Zukunft 24 December 2024). That was driven by a man of Saudi origin, who was known to the police as being paradoxically a pro-AfD supporter; he was also known to have run a blog with extremist and violent slogans – but he was ignored. The second was a knife attack by an Afghan refugee who was known to the CSU authorities of the town as dangerous and who wanted to be deported, and yet the police had not followed through. He launched an attack killing people including children.
Following these events, Merz intensified a CDU push towards a “5-point plan” clamping down on entry of non-Germans into the state and moving towards easier deportation policies:
“24 January 2025: “Next week we will submit proposals to the German Bundestag that reflect our convictions exclusively,” said the Union leader after the fatal knife attack in Aschaffenburg with regard to refugee policy. “And we will submit them regardless of who agrees with them.”
“29 January 2025 “A right decision does not become wrong just because the wrong people agree to it. It remains right,” said Merz in the Bundestag, immediately before the vote on his controversial “5-point plan.”
Evelin Ruhnow; Ibid
By now Merz was aloe actively stealing the AfD’s clothes, which was calling now even more vociferously for deportations (See Anka Schneiderman, “AfD plans Deportation ticket for non-Germans”; Berlin Left 19 January 2025).
By early February he had instructed his parliamentary group to vote together with the AfD:
“Merz will have his parliamentary group in the Bundestag, together with the AfD, pass a motion calling for stricter migration policy. He had previously announced that he would accept votes from the far right, and this had already sparked a heated debate in the country. But when it actually happened on Wednesday, it caused political shock waves.
Sophie Garbe, et al: “Wie Friederich Merz der AfD die Tuer zur Macht Oeffnete”; 31.01.2025, Der Spiegel
The general process of ‘stealing the clothes of the fascists’ is wide-spread as the traditional bourgeois parties become ever more exposed (Kumar, Restructuring capitalist parties in the European Community’; Berlin Left; 26/07/2024)
vi) Merz’s lead in the Polls forecasting German February 23rd elections
Several polls clearly see the CDU as first with about 30% of th electorate likely to vote for them, and the AfD polling at second with about 20% – pipping the SPD at about 16%.
Source: Wahlrecht.de, FT research • Latest poll Feb 3; in: Anne-Sylvaine Chassany ; “Can Friedrich Merz still fix Germany?” Ibid; FT; 5 Feb 2025
At the time of this writing (6 February 2025) the televised news reports of ‘Tagesschau” still report similar poll numbers.
Below, we now give the view from participants at a recent demonstration in Stuttgart. This comes from “Aufbau”
Merz failed, but continues to agitate!
[Merz gescheitert, aber hetzt weiter!]
At the instigation of Friedrich Merz, the CDU/CSU have opened the door to Nazis. One day before the 92nd anniversary of the transfer of power to Hitler on January 29, 2025: With the help of the AfD, the right-wing radical party dominated by Nazis and fascists, CDU leader Friedrich Merz pushed a reactionary attack on the rights of numerous refugees through the Bundestag: the CDU/CSU resolution on the so-called turnaround in migration policy! The FDP also largely agreed, while the Bundis Sara Wagenknecht (BSW), which could have prevented the scandal with its no vote, abstained! With 348 yes votes and 344 no votes, the result was close.
The agitators of the AfD faction cheered openly. Merz gave them their greatest political success to date! So what that the AfD is criticized in the motion? Never mind! The measures demanded read like an AfD wish list.
The resolution calls for:
- Permanent border controls – as if immigrants who have genuine criminal intentions were lining up at border control points;
- Rejection of all refugees without valid entry documents, without exception, as if people on the run always had such documents.
- Those who are ”required to leave the country” would be arrested and imprisoned until they are deported or until they leave “voluntarily”.
- The resolution calls for “daily” deportations to Afghanistan and Syria, where Islamist regimes are in power.
No less than a frontal attack on human rights and the rule of law.
On Friday, January 31, 2025, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group wanted to introduce the ‘immigrant influx limitation law’ and failed. That aimed at:
o Abolishing family reunification – a clear violation of European and international law;
o Enabling the federal police to initiate deportations on their own initiative – without legal recourse!
The resolution and draft law read like the AfD’s program. Again, Merz and Co. speculated on the support of the AfD and the FDP. But in the decisive vote, some members of the CDU/CSU, FDP and BSW refused to give their consent.
Good!
Merz and his reactionary supporters were left exposed! Great!
Colleagues! This affects people who work with you and live in the same neighborhoods. And people who think and act like Merz and the AfD – they also have no respect for your rights as working people if they no longer like them.
Workers can only assert their interests against these ladies and gentlemen by showing solidarity!
Merz – candidate of powerful capital circles!
Merz is not a fool who has made a regrettable mistake. As a former leading manager of the powerful international hedge fund Blackrock, he is well connected to the highest circles of capital. Merz’s actions are known and approved in the most important circles of capital. With the help of fascists, capital openly wants to get rid of people who are seen as superfluous. Hatred and incitement against refugees, who are largely victims of the wars started by these imperialists, of repressive regimes supported by ruthless environmental destruction and global warming.
They need to do this to sow division and a lack of solidarity. Female workers, male employees, working people – let’s not play this game!
Failed, but not done!
Even if the CDU/CSU and FDP law has temporarily failed, nothing is done.
On the contrary!
According to “ZDF heute”, Merz lied in the Bundestag on 31.1.25 that there were “group rapes taking place every day”. This has nothing to do with reality! It is clear that the CDU/CSU wants to continue the course of lies and incitement. The two collaborations between the CDU/CSU leadership and the AfD, as well as the fact that all bourgeois parties are moving ever further to the right, show what the rulers want:
o social cuts, shifting the crisis onto the backs of the workers, war and rearmament to increase profits!
o There is great agreement among all these parties on rearmament and war, as well as on social welfare cuts, even if great promises are being made again in the election campaign.
That is why we must fight ourselves, and defend our rights and interests and stand together in solidarity!
Ban the AfD!
This demand is necessary, even if we warn against illusions in the ruling parties and especially in the Constitutional Court. Only we ourselves can eliminate the fascist dangers with mass struggle on the streets and in the workplace.
Ban it anyway! Because with the AfD, thanks to the Union, a group is now coming close to power and influence that trivializes the Hitler Nazi NSDAP’s reign of terror, which cost millions of people murdered and turned the continent into a wasteland of rubble through aggressive war – as “bird shit”! Chairwoman Weidel, who is increasingly inciting hatred against everything non-German, is making the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of immigrant colleagues her program (“Remigration – of course!”). And this lady recommends Elon Musk from the Trump ranks to us, as a “real” alternative for this country of mega-capitalists! These types, praised by Ms. Weidel, don’t give a damn about things that benefit this country, except that they can make unlimited mega-profits here too. For our interests? Not at all!
Weidel and Co. are not only demanding that citizens’ income be cut to the level of total poverty, but also severe cuts in unemployment benefits (ALG I)! With the threat of massive job cuts, this will affect tens of thousands of people who will soon be thrown out onto the streets by capital! AfD – party of the little people?
Party for capital! But they are prepared to carry out terror against the people at the bottom, against people in work, unemployed, on the run.
Let’s take to the streets against this reactionary and threatening development!
Stop right-wing hatred and nationalist agitation!
Ban the AfD and all other Nazi racist and organizations and their agitation!
Kontakt und V.i.S.d.P.: D. Möller, c/o Verlag AZ, Pf. 401051, 70410 Stuttgart
info@arbeit-zukunft.de
