German opposition Christian Democrats tap leader Friedrich Merz as their candidate for chancellor

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s opposition center-right Christian Democratic Union has chosen its leader Friedrich Merz to be its candidate for chancellor in next year’s national election. The decision was announced Tuesday at a news conference in Berlin with Merz and Markus Soeder, the leader of the CDU’s smaller Bavarian counterpart, the Christian Social Union, who had also been a contender for the role. An unpopular three-party coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz has governed Germany since 2021. The coalition suffered losses in elections to the European Parliament earlier this year and in recent German state elections in Thuringia and Saxony.