Germany's centre-right CDU/CSU eyeing candidate to challenge Scholz

German conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz has continued to line up support for his chancellor candidacy in next year's nationwide election.

Merz secured a key endorsement on Monday evening from Hendrik Wüst, the popular premier of the western German state of North Rhine Westphalia and fellow member of the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU).

On Tuesday morning, the conservative state premier of Bavaria, Markus Söder, announced that he would join Merz for a joint press conference in Berlin at noon (1000 GMT).

It is widely expected that the choice of chancellor candidate will be discussed at the press conference, though there have not been indications of whether Söder would endorse Merz or not.

Whoever is ultimately picked would be the favourite to defeat current Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) in the next nationwide election, scheduled for September 2025.

Scholz's squabbling three-party coalition has become widely unpopular in Germany, while the CDU has held consistent leads in national polls.

Söder, who leads the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), has long been viewed as Merz's top rival for the chancellor candidacy.

His interest in the chancellorship is considered an open secret in German politics, and he unsuccessfully angled to be the top candidate for the CDU/CSU in 2021.

Wüst has long been viewed as Merz's other potential rival for the candidacy. The 49-year-old Wüst leads Germany's most populous state and is generally viewed as a more charismatic and polished option compared to the gaffe-prone 68-year-old Merz.

But on Monday evening, Wüst said he would not be a candidate in the election and pledged his support to Merz instead.