Pallade Veneta - Friedrich Merz: German conservative gunning to become chancellor

Now that centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz has lost a confidence vote following the dramatic collapse of his three-party coalition, Merz may soon get his chance after decades of waiting in the wings.

Although he has never held government office, polls say Merz is the favourite to win the February 23 election.

Merz, a 69-year-old Roman Catholic, hails from the rural Sauerland region of North Rhine-Westphalia and is the top candidate of the Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian allies the CSU.

A long-time rival of the CDU's centrist ex-chancellor Angela Merkel, Merz has criticised her legacy, from her open-door policy to migrants to her insistence on maintaining dialogue with Russia.

Merz is a pro-business economic liberal, who published a book in 2008 titled "Dare More Capitalism", a passionate advocate of transatlantic ties and the European Union, and a defender of traditional social values.

First elected to the Bundestag three decades ago, Merz took over the CDU leadership on his third attempt after its 2021 election defeat and was confirmed as its chancellor candidate in September.

Firmly on the right of the CDU, Merz has backed a tougher immigration policy and law and order stance and pledged to reverse marijuana legalisation and Germany's phase-out of nuclear power, as he seeks to win back voters who have drifted to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

- Seeing red -

Merz has sparked anger by labelling the sons of Muslim immigrants "little pashas" and accusing some Ukrainian war refugees of "social welfare tourism", before later apologising.

In recent months he has led the charge in raining down withering criticism on Scholz's government, blaming its "wrongheaded" policies and "green-tinted interventionism" for the woes of Germany's stuttering economy.

He is rhetorically skilled and visibly enjoys a good political scrap.

The news magazine Der Spiegel said he also tends to take conflicts personally and is given to fits of anger, writing that "if Merz were a bullfighter, he would probably hold the red cloth in front of his stomach".

Scholz too has tried to portray his rival as a "hothead" who would play "Russian roulette" with Moscow, by sending long-range missiles to Ukraine.

Nonetheless, according to news weekly Die Zeit, the old-school conservative is "currently the CDU's answer" to the recent electoral successes of the AfD, which is polling at close to 20 percent.

- Hobby pilot -

Merz was born on November 11, 1955 and has been married for more than 40 years to Charlotte Merz, a judge. They have three adult children.

Merz, who at 198 cm (6ft 6 in) stands out in a crowd, is a licensed pilot who sometimes flies his own private jet.

Trained as a lawyer, he was elected to the European Parliament in 1989 and then to the Bundestag, where his mentor was the CDU's powerful late finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

But Merz lost out in a power struggle against Merkel, who took over the CDU leadership in 2002 as the party struggled to rebuild after Helmut Kohl's chancellorship ended in a slush fund scandal.

Merkel went on to become Germany's second-longest serving post-war chancellor while Merz -- humiliated, and his influence greatly diminished -- opted for a hiatus from politics.

He left parliament in 2009 and for over a decade pursued a successful career in the private sector.

He worked as a corporate lawyer, built up a personal fortune and held senior positions on the boards of US investment firm BlackRock and multiple other companies.

His business world success and wealth have left him open to charges of being out of touch with most German voters -- a claim he has rejected by insisting he belongs to the "upper middle class".

L.Barone--PV