Overview
- The CSU, buoyed by mid‑October polls showing roughly 36–37% support in Bavaria, opens its Munich congress this weekend with two lead motions that reject cooperation with the AfD and stress affordability, care and family relief.
- Markus Söder is publicly backing Ilse Aigner as a candidate for Federal President, Friedrich Merz will address delegates but has not publicly committed to her, and the debate is being watched as a test of CDU–CSU cohesion.
- The AfD’s strong results in parts of the country are producing concrete tactical problems for mainstream parties, most urgently in Saxony‑Anhalt where a planned CDU walkout during a secret minister‑president vote is threatened by one member’s refusal to leave the chamber.
- At the local level the CDU’s shift to judge motions on content rather than source — illustrated by Berlin‑Reinickendorf’s plan to fill an AfD‑allocated Stadtrat post — has provoked alarm from other parties and raised questions about long‑term reputational risk.
- Economic and international strains add pressure on politics: VW faces reports of management plans including pay freezes and large job cuts that supervisory‑board member Olaf Lies warned could cost tens of thousands of roles, and President Trump’s claim that Elon Musk restored Starlink access for Ukraine remains contested after President Zelenskyy reported continuing problems.