At 70, Chancellor Merz eyes political future beyond current term

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has signalled his intention to remain in politics well beyond the current parliamentary term, saying he plans to seek a second term after Germany’s 2029 federal election.

Speaking at a Political Ash Wednesday event in Trier, the 70-year-old leader said he expected to stay in office for “quite some time,” pointing to his family's longevity as evidence.

“I still intend to do this for a longer period,” he said, according to Welt, noting that his father recently turned 102.

Merz made the remarks while addressing Gordon Schnieder, the Christian Democratic Union’s lead candidate for the Rhineland-Palatinate state election scheduled for 22 March. Looking ahead, the chancellor said he hoped that in five years both men could look back together — Schnieder as minister-president and himself as chancellor — and conclude that “those were difficult times, but we made the right decisions” at both federal and regional levels.

Merz, who turned 70 in November, is Germany’s oldest chancellor since Konrad Adenauer, who left office in 1963 at the age of 87. Before any future electoral ambitions, however, he faces an immediate political test: a vote at the upcoming party congress of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Stuttgart, where he is seeking re-election as party leader for a third consecutive term.

CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann recently praised Merz’s political stamina, telling Stern magazine that the chancellor had “the genes to stay in politics for a very long time,” referencing the longevity of his parents. However, Linnemann said discussion about another chancellor candidacy was premature, adding: “I assume so, but this is not a question that arises in 2026.”

Party officials are preparing for the two-day congress, which begins with leadership elections. Merz is running unopposed. He secured 94.6% support when first elected CDU chairman in 2022, later confirmed with 95.3% in a postal vote, before receiving 89.8% at the last party congress in 2024.

Some CDU members believe that, after a difficult start to his chancellorship, matching those results may prove challenging. Others argue delegates could rally behind him ahead of five upcoming regional elections to demonstrate unity.

Comparisons are already being drawn with Markus Söder, leader of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, who recorded his weakest internal election result last December with 83.6% support. Among Merz’s allies, some say the immediate benchmark is simple — to achieve a stronger result than Söder.

By Tamilla Hasanova