Key facts
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged a party reset after a significant election defeat.
- The far-right AfD won 38% of the vote in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
- Merz's CDU suffered its worst-ever postwar result in the state, crashing out of parliament.
- Merz admitted the CDU lacks satisfactory answers to many questions.
- Merz vowed to hold discussions with party leadership and state premiers to unite the CDU.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged to overhaul his party's platform and decision-making processes on Monday, admitting that the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) lacks satisfactory answers to many pressing questions. The commitment comes after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) secured a decisive victory in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, achieving around 38% of the vote.