Germany’s conservative opposition leader, the favourite to be the next chancellor, said on Saturday a new government should be in place within two months of federal elections on February 23.
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CDU leader Friedrich Merz said he hoped a new coalition could be formed “by Easter”, were he and his party to come first in the poll.
The goal was “ambitious”, Merz said, with Easter Sunday falling on April 20, exactly eight weeks after Germans go to vote.
“We need to make a few decisions by the summer break at the latest,” he said to explain the hurry, referring to decisions that were important for business.
Merz’s CDU and its sister party, the Bavarian CSU, are leading in opinion polls, with a joint share of the vote of around 30 per cent.
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The conservative alliance is ahead of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is polling at around 21 per cent on average.
The centre-left Social Democrats, led by current chancellor Olaf Scholz, are in third place on some 16 per cent of the vote.