German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has suffered consecutive crushing defeats in state elections, said on September 21 (local time) that he was grateful to his coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), for not breaking up the coalition.

He launched an offensive against the Left Party, which won a landslide victory in the capital city of Berlin, calling them a "destructive force."

Holding a press conference at the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) headquarters in Berlin on the afternoon of the same day, Chancellor Merz said, "I am grateful that the SPD conveyed their intention to maintain the coalition this morning. Neither the party nor I want it to break." He added, "This is a matter concerning the democratic future of our country."

The CDU and the SPD formed a so-called grand coalition of the left and right in May of last year to run the federal government, but they have been experiencing considerable ideological conflict.

Because the approval ratings of both parties have plunged simultaneously since the launch of the grand coalition, there are no easy breakthroughs even if they were to break the coalition right now and hold a general election.

Regarding the consecutive heavy defeats of the CDU—which he leads—in the state parliament elections in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6 and in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania the previous day, Chancellor Merz said, "I know that federal politics played a major role."

However, he stated, "The election results and their causes go beyond just me alone," making it clear that he will not shoulder the blame all by himself.

He harshly criticized the Left Party—which emerged as the number-one party in Berlin with 25.7 percent of the vote by pledging the "socialization" of housing owned by private companies—lumping them together with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD, 16.3 percent).

Chancellor Merz claimed, "More than 40 percent of the people in Berlin voted for forces that are destructive, doubt our parliamentary political system, and rally people with radical and simplistic solutions."

Regarding the Left Party's housing socialization pledge, he said, "This is not simply a matter of banning something in Berlin. It is important to send a clear message to international investors that there is no confiscation of private property in Germany."

Chancellor Merz also claimed that recently in Berlin, "radical and open anti-Semitism has been appearing."

The Left Party, whose core ideology is peace and disarmament, has some activists supporting Palestine who are suspected of harboring anti-Semitic tendencies.

Chancellor Merz reiterated his intention to keep both positions as federal chancellor and CDU leader, stating, "No one has raised personnel issues."

However, Dennis Thering, leader of the Hamburg CDU, said on the same day, "If necessary to continue reform work, Merz should request a vote of confidence."

A vote of confidence in the German Bundestag can only be initiated by the chancellor himself.

It is used as a high-stakes gamble to break a political deadlock or, conversely, to induce the dissolution of parliament and early general elections.

Buoyed by its two consecutive state election victories, the AfD mocked, "The CDU has been ground to dust," and claimed that the grand coalition of the left and right will collapse.

Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD, said, "We have pushed the CDU out of its position as a people's party," adding that the CDU self-destructed through its firewall policy of blocking cooperation with the AfD.

As the AfD and the Left Party on the extreme left and right expand their influence, analyses suggest that—regardless of Chancellor Merz's political future—the centrist politics that has sustained the CDU and the SPD since the end of World War II for 80 years in the postwar era is collapsing.

The polling agency Infratest dimap analyzed that in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the AfD absorbed about 50,000 SPD supporters and about 30,000 CDU supporters.

In Berlin, about 53,000 Green Party supporters and about 37,000 SPD supporters moved to the Left Party.

With the increase in AfD seats over the past few years, German politics has experienced difficulties in forming majorities in the federal government and a significant number of state governments.

The Left Party secured 47 out of 158 seats in the Berlin state parliament, ranking first for the first time, but it remains unclear whether it will be able to form a coalition due to its wide ideological distance from other parties.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)