Merz at CSU congress backs power tax cut for all, silent on Aigner bid

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged unity between his Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party, the CSU, at the CSU's congress in Munich on Saturday. "We will have to fight," he told around 700 delegates, according to dpa. "There is no exclusive claim to the chancellery." On opinion polls, he said, according to Euronews: "We don't look at the polls every day, we are on the right course." After a speech of just over 50 minutes he received nearly four minutes of standing applause.

Merz said the electricity tax should, if at all possible, be cut for all consumers in 2027 so people would have more money in their pockets. The relief currently applies only to manufacturing, agriculture and forestry. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil of the Social Democrats has said higher tax revenue would not cover such a cut, dpa reported. Merz again ruled out cooperation with the far-right AfD, saying anyone who wanted to give that party their vote had no place in the conservative bloc.

Merz did not address the possible candidacy of Bavarian parliament speaker Ilse Aigner for federal president. He greeted her right after CSU leader Markus Söder at the start of his speech, prompting delegates to rise to their feet. Söder had again floated Aigner's name a day earlier. CDU sources told dpa the party had not given up on nominating its own candidate.