BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz accused election rival Friedrich Merz of breaking his word by accepting far-right AfD support to pass an anti-immigration motion.
In their only one-on-one TV debate before the Feb 23 vote, Scholz, trailing in the polls, went on the offensive, calling Merz’s move “a breaking of his word and of a taboo.”
He warned that post-war Germany had prospered by keeping democratic parties united against the extreme right.
Merz, whose CDU leads with around 30 per cent in the polls, denied any alliance with AfD, insisting there was “no common ground.”
He defended his decision, citing a knife attack that killed a two-year-old and a rescuer.
Scholz dismissed Merz’s border crackdown plan, asking, “How could one be so stupid?”
The debate also covered Germany’s economic downturn. Merz blamed Scholz’s government for “deindustrialisation” and rising unemployment, while Scholz pointed to soaring energy costs from Russia’s Ukraine invasion.
On foreign policy, both agreed on raising defence spending but differed on handling Donald Trump. Scholz called Trump’s Gaza relocation idea “a scandal,” while Merz urged caution, saying “there’s probably a lot of rhetoric involved.”
Observers saw the debate as measured and unlikely to shift the election race. – AFP
