Sven Schulze, the premier of Saxony‑Anhalt and a member of the CDU, voiced a cautious assessment of the current coalition government headed by Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Speaking to the “Spiegel”, he said the federal administration’s image needs a significant lift and that “real results are required, not just in economic policy”.
Schulze hopes that, ahead of the state election on September 6, a more positive record of the Berlin‑led coalition will benefit his party. “We would be most aided if the CDU at the federal level focused on its work” he explained, noting that such a focus would make the local campaign easier. In the state polls the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is clearly ahead of the CDU and all other parties.
He also linked the current mood in Saxony‑Anhalt to worries that economic hardship could return to the scale seen in the years after reunification. “That is not due to our state government but because many people lack faith in Berlin’s and Brussels’ policies” Schulze asserted.
Schulze highlighted structural disparities between eastern and western Germany. The average wage in the east remains about 20 % lower than in the west, and many citizens have no inheritance or savings. “When diesel suddenly rises above two euros per litre at the pump, it weighs heavily on people-more so than in the west, where the average full‑time salary is €4,800”.