(de-news.net) – CSU leader Markus Söder has defended Merz’s reform agenda, urging quicker implementation, reduced tax and energy costs, and advancements in pension reform. Franziska Hoppermann, the secretary-general of the CDU, also supported Merz, contending that the party should continue to concentrate on its long-term agenda rather than responding to poor polling. At the same time, CDU critics are calling for more tangible outcomes, stronger economic policies, fewer promises, and a clearer political direction.
Following the CDU’s dismal performance in Saxony-Anhalt, criticism of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who also serves as the party’s chairman, has intensified within the center-right party. The setback has sharpened questions over the government’s direction, its pace of reform and the effectiveness of its political communication. Yet Merz has also received backing from CSU leader and Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder, who urged the governing coalition to accelerate its reform agenda while cautioning the CDU against allowing the AfD to exploit internal disagreements.
Söder acknowledged that political debate would naturally turn toward individual politicians and parties after a disappointing election result. But, he argued, the CDU’s response should be greater unity rather than division. In his view, the party needed to maintain its commitment to the planned reforms and avoid being pulled apart by the AfD’s political challenge. The Federal Government, Söder said, needed to move considerably faster. He characterized the Saxony-Anhalt vote as an exceptionally strong warning from voters and argued that the result required concrete political consequences. Rather than reconsidering measures that had already been agreed upon, he called for their faster implementation and for additional progress in tax policy, including compensation for so-called bracket creep.
Söder also called for further efforts to bring down energy costs and supported an inflation adjustment to the tax schedule beginning in 2027. At the same time, he argued that the government’s room for maneuver was being constrained by excessive spending on social programs. Labor Minister Bärbel Bas, he said, should advance the relevant legislation more quickly and avoid allowing additional bureaucratic procedures to slow the process.
The CSU leader was equally firm on the proposed pension reform, arguing that its basic direction should remain intact. While technical changes, exemptions and transitional arrangements could be considered, he maintained that the central principle was not negotiable. As Germany’s population grows older and the number of younger workers declines, people will ultimately have to remain in the workforce longer, he argued. Söder also called for consistency in applying the previously approved requirement that workers provide medical certification beginning on the first day of leave. Repeatedly reopening decisions that have already been reached, he contended, would undermine the government’s credibility and create an impression of political uncertainty.
Hoppermann says Merz offers a long-term vision
Franziska Hoppermann, the CDU’s secretary-general, has likewise offered support for Merz as pressure on the party leadership has mounted. She portrayed the chancellor as representing a long-term vision for Germany’s development and maintained that the government remained on the right path despite persistently weak polling. Her defense came as declining support has increasingly raised questions within the party about whether its current course is resonating with voters.
Hoppermann acknowledged that falling approval ratings inevitably raised questions about the party’s direction. Still, she argued that the CDU should not allow polling results to determine its political strategy. She pointed to the pension reform as an example of a policy whose benefits, in her assessment, would become clearer over time. The objective was to improve future pension benefits while creating the prospect of lower contribution rates, she said. Reaching those goals, however, would require sustained cooperation rather than a retreat from the government’s program. Economic growth, Hoppermann added, should remain a central priority because stronger growth would create the financial conditions needed for measures such as tax relief. Her argument placed the government’s reform program within a broader effort to strengthen economic performance, rather than treating individual policy decisions in isolation.
Hoppermann has also urged CDU supporters in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to help prevent the AfD from gaining a majority. With the state election approaching and recent polling putting the CDU at only about 7 percent, she stressed the importance of a strong showing by the Union. The weak numbers have heightened concern among CDU officials in the state that the party could face the unprecedented prospect of failing to enter the state parliament.
CDU critics call for new political direction
At the same time, criticism from within the CDU has continued to increase. Florian Oest, a CDU lawmaker, has called for a renewed political effort, arguing that both the federal government and the party need greater substance and a clearer sense of direction. Along with other district leaders, he has pressed for a conference of CDU district chairmen to address the party’s poor electoral performance in Saxony-Anhalt and its weak standing in national polling.
Oest has advocated an “Agenda 2030” centered on strengthening the economy. In his view, a CDU chancellor must provide the country with political orientation while also addressing concrete problems rather than leaving voters with broad promises alone. Whether Merz possesses the political strength needed to initiate such a new phase, Oest suggested, is ultimately a decision for the chancellor himself.
Similar concerns have emerged from the party’s social wing. CDA leader Dennis Radtke argued that the CDU’s recent emphasis on a more distinctly conservative profile has failed to produce the expected results. In a letter to CDA members, he called for a change of course that would extend beyond individual policies to include the party’s political narrative and its approach to communication. Michael Müller, a member of the CDA and deputy leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, also increased pressure on Merz to demonstrate tangible progress on reform. The Union, including its senior leadership, should make fewer promises and focus more firmly on implementation, he argued.
