Merz and Evers after losses Reforms and coalition talks

Sep 20

ZDF carries the audible CDU press conference with Friedrich Merz and Stefan Evers after the Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern elections. Merz says Daniel Peters remains in Schwerin dealing with the consequences of CDU failing to enter the state parliament; he attributes that defeat partly to competition between SPD and AfD. He accepts a federal and personal role in the results, says no one raised replacing him, and reports unanimous CDU-board support for continuing the coalition and reforms. He announces a review of the party's structure, programme and profile, closer work with state premiers and more attention to people's fears and perceived unfairness. Evers offers Berlin coalition talks with SPD and Greens, while acknowledging CDU's result fell short and arguing for empathy, practical solutions and responsibility in the political centre. The partners' choice remains open. Asked about Germany's international image, Merz condemns antisemitism, particularly in Berlin, calls for clear positions from SPD and Greens and pledges protection of Jewish life; his characterizations of political tendencies remain attributed. On housing, Evers rejects large-landlord socialization as economically harmful while acknowledging the referendum's concerns. Merz says initial expropriation-ban drafts have been coordinated between the justice and interior ministries and promises to advance legislation, without reporting enactment. In the final answer he disputes that retirement-age reform dominated campaign conversations and instead describes unequal medical access. He says equivalent effects of statutory-insurance decisions must also reach private insurance, as previously agreed but not yet implemented. He reports Laumann's concern about fairness in parallel health and care systems, acknowledges good reasons for both and promises discussions over changes, without announcing abolition. The initial broadcast audio gap is excluded; missing opening words are not reconstructed.

Kan reported that Die Linke finished first in Berlin's September 20 state election with 26 percent of the vote. Coalition formation remained open: the correspondent described the SPD as pivotal between an alliance with Die Linke and an alternative involving the center-right and Greens. The report included concerns from Jewish community representatives and Israel's ambassador about antisemitism within the party. Tagesschau's September 23 report independently recalls Die Linke's Sunday election victory while examining Berlin's prospective Olympic-bid withdrawal. It reports that the Senate may blame the party's longstanding opposition, but correspondent Sebastian Schöbel argues that the DOSB evaluation, funding doubts and weak public support are more decisive. It does not report a coalition agreement. AUF1's September 22 account adds that AfD won 16.3 percent, below earlier polls around 20 percent, and twelve constituencies, including five of six in Marzahn-Hellersdorf. It gives Die Linke 28 direct mandates, the CDU 27 and the SPD one. A later passage discusses a possible Left–SPD–Green government without reporting an agreement. Another return says BSW narrowly missed the five-percent threshold, preventing its participation in a possible parliamentary Covid inquiry; Alexander King expresses regret. Weltwoche's September 24 commentary adds Roger Köppel's critical but relatively calm assessment of Die Linke's victory. He describes a young activist party, questions the affordability of its housing, migration and policing proposals, welcomes its pacifist profile and connects its gains to opposition to the AfD and dissatisfaction with the Merz government. Citing blogger eugyppius, he disputes claims that Muslim voters were the main driver and points instead to former Green and SPD voters and new voters. His quoted two-to-ten-percent estimate of the Muslim-voter contribution is an attributed claim, without methodology or independently verified polling presented in the video. In a separate return, he predicts that financial realities will constrain the party's programme and urges caution about alarmist forecasts. No coalition agreement or implemented policy is reported. In the earlier September 22 Weltwoche edition, Köppel attributes Berlin's leftward shift partly to CDU and Merkel-era migration policy and the domestic consequences of the Middle East conflict. He criticizes Die Linke's expropriation platform and its positioning toward Israel while arguing that the CDU helped create the conditions for its success. These are causal and political interpretations, with no voter-study evidence presented. This account has a different emphasis from his September 24 discussion of voter origins; both editions are preserved. In the September 25 Weltwoche edition, Köppel emphasizes housing shortages and rent increases as reasons for Die Linke's appeal. He revisits the Wowereit government's municipal-housing sales during Berlin's financial crisis and subsequent costly buybacks, interpreting them as part of voters' dissatisfaction. He also highlights the party's peace stance and opposition to domestic surveillance, while criticizing its migration and policing proposals and predicting financial limits. He urges critics to understand left-wing voters as they would AfD voters and assigns responsibility for migration policy to Merkel's CDU. These are his causal interpretations, not a voter study, a new election result or a coalition agreement. ZDF's September 21 broadcast adds Merz's and Evers's first-hand account of CDU's disappointing Berlin result and two possible three-party combinations, without reporting agreement. Evers offers a centrist alternative and accepts a need for empathy and practical responses to voters' concerns. Maurer discusses BSW's exclusion and the Left's governing ambition; Faas analyses weakening traditional-party support, tactical voting and coalition compromises. Their diagnoses and predictions remain attributed. The substantive coalition offer is also identified as a distinct next-day occurrence. In his October 6 commentary, Köppel again recalls Die Linke's victory, attributes part but expressly not all of the explanation to migration, and describes radicalization and fears among parts of Berlin's middle class and Jewish community. These remain his interpretations and reported concerns, without a voter study or evidence of a formed coalition.