Merz's political crisis threatens Germany's obsession with stability

Chancellor Friedrich Merz faces a political crisis with a 13% approval rating, the lowest for any German chancellor since polling began. After 16 months in office, his CDU posted three weak regional election results; preliminary results in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern showed it failed to reach the 5% threshold to enter parliament. The AfD became the largest faction in two of those states and may govern in Saxony Anhalt.