Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday called on voters to support her likely successor after polls showed support for her party at an all-time low.
“Citizens have the option in a few days,” Merkel said as she spoke in the German federal parliament, Reuters reported. “Either a government that accepts the support of the Linke party (far left) with the SPD and the Greens, or at least does not exclude it, or a federal government … with Armin Laschet as chancellor, a federal government that leads the our country towards the future in moderation, “he continued.
On Sunday, Merkel backed center-right candidate Laschet, the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, to succeed her as chancellor of Germany.
“Armin Laschet is successfully leading this largest state in Germany,” Merkel told reporters. “Someone who can lead this state can also lead Germany as chancellor.”
Recent polls have shown that support for Merkel’s Conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) is blatant.
According to Reuters, the Forsa poll found that 19% of voters supported the conservative CDU / CSU parties, while 25% supported the center-left Social Democrats. The new data marks the lowest score of the Conservative wing, according to the German television channel n-tv.
Merkel’s speech on Tuesday will probably be her last speech in parliament, as she will leave office at the end of her fourth term.
The Social Democrat candidate, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, is currently the most popular candidate at the polls.
Elections in Germany will take place on September 26.