Friedrich Merz can’t go on like this

Unlock unlimited access to all our award-winning journalism, subscriber-only podcasts and newsletters Subscribe to The Economist Unlock unlimited access to all our award-winning journalism, subscriber-only podcasts and newsletters Your browser does not support the <audio> element. I t is a sunny spring morning in Salzwedel, a picturesque town of half-timbered houses and cobbled streets in the east German state of Saxony-Anhalt, and people have come to shout at Friedrich Merz. Outside the cultural centre where Germany’s chancellor has agreed to take questions from locals, farmers and others protest against his energy policies. Inside, a skin-cancer victim upset about proposed changes to screening rules complains that politicians feather their nests as ordinary folk suffer. “The chancellor only talks around the issues, he offers nothing concrete,” says Thomas Becker, an entrepreneur angry about red tape and aid to Ukraine. He wants new elections. Mr Merz, who took office a year ago, is n

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