Overview
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz presented CDU economic plans in Berlin alongside Gordon Schnieder after the party’s postponed Mainz retreat was scaled down and moved.
- Gordon Schnieder, the CDU’s lead candidate in Rheinland-Pfalz, is campaigning to unseat the SPD after 35 years in power in the March 22 state election.
- Recent polls place the CDU around 28–29 percent versus the SPD at about 23 percent, with the AfD near 20 percent, the Greens close to 10 percent and the FDP at risk of missing the Landtag.
- Media reports, citing Der Spiegel, suggest internal tensions involving Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder and speculate that Jens Spahn could be moved into the transport post after the state vote.
- A government spokeswoman rejected the reshuffle speculation, stating the chancellor is not considering personnel changes.