German Chancellor Friedrich Merz¡¯s unwieldy ruling alliance with the Social Democrats (SPD) is facing an existential crisis of its own making that could trigger its demise after only seven months in office.
The latest challenge to the embattled conservative leader¡¯s authority comes from within his own Christian Democratic Union (CDU), after a group of about 18 younger CDU lawmakers rebelled against a pension bill due to go to a final vote in the Bundestag on Friday.
Merz¡¯s bloc ¡ª which consists of the CDU and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) ¡ª and the SPD have 328 seats out of 630 in the lower house, giving them a majority of just 12. If the coalition falls short, it would be another deeply embarrassing debacle for Merz after his bungled investiture in May and a failed appointment of a Constitutional Court judge in July.
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