Merkel party's man struggles in TV debate

Poll slump follows Laschet into battle with rivals ahead of German election

Armin Laschet, the candidate from Angela Merkel's party who is trying to succeed her as Germany's chancellor in an election next month, failed to put a slide in the polls behind him when he squared up to his rivals in a televised debate on Sunday night.

The debate, the first of three scheduled before the Sept 26 election, was held among the three leading candidates. Laschet, the governor of Germany's most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia, is the candidate of Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, and the Christian Social Union, or CSU, alliance. Olaf Scholz, the finance minister and vice-chancellor since 2018 under Merkel's coalition government, represents the center-left Social Democratic Party, or SPD. The third candidate in the debate was Annalena Baerbock, of The Greens.

A snap poll of voters by Forsa after the debate on RTL and n-tv television showed that 36 percent said Scholz won, compared with 30 percent for Baerbock and only 25 percent for Laschet. Scholz was behind both of his rivals just months ago when Laschet had a clear lead and Baerbock also performed well early this year.

Laschet, 60, has suffered the slump in opinion polls over the past weeks after widely publicized missteps, such as being caught on camera laughing with local officials while German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier gave a speech mourning the victims of deadly floods in western Germany.

Baerbock has also been hit by scandals, including plagiarism claims over a book she wrote.

Shortly before Sunday's debate, a poll by newspaper Bild am Sonntag showed voters' support for the SPD hitting 24 percent, ahead of the 21 percent for the CDU-CSU and 17 percent for The Greens.

"I have always felt headwinds. Even now," Laschet said in his closing statement to viewers. He added that "in such moments we need steadfastness, reliability".

"That is the offer of (the CDUCSU)－stability and reliability in difficult times."

The heated debate on Sunday saw Laschet launch an offensive, criticizing Merkel's coalition between the CDU and the CSU and Scholz's SPD over the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.

"It's a disaster … a disaster for the West but also a disaster for the government," he said, adding that it was already clear by April that the US was pulling out of Afghanistan but that too little was done to prevent the frantic evacuations seen in recent days.

Laschet said: "We must strengthen Europe such that we never have to leave it up to Americans… We have to equip our military forces better."

Merkel, who recently started campaigning for Laschet, will step down after 16 years in office after winning four straight national elections.

Climate change tussle

Laschet also engaged in a battle with Baerbock on Sunday over The Greens' accusation that the CDU and the SPD are doing too little on climate change.

"You obviously don't have a plan," 40-year-old Baerbock told her two rivals. She pledged to install solar panels on every roof and ban the sale of combustion engine vehicles from 2030.

Laschet retorted that Baerbock's policies will hurt German industry. "You shackle industry and then tell them to run faster," he said.

Scholz, who has enjoyed a surge in popularity lately, has focused on his expertise on financial topics such as taxes and pensions. The 63-year-old promised a "society that values respect. Respect for everyone".

"And that is why we need better pay (for workers), a higher minimum wage, and of course also stable pensions," he said. "We have to stop man-made climate change and ensure that we still have good jobs in 10, 20 and 30 years."

Olaf Boehnke, a senior adviser at the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity, said in a tweet: "Scholz was the best incarnation of Merkel, just missing her unique humor (unfortunately)."

Carl Bildt, co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations and a former Swedish prime minister, said in a tweet: "The first TV debate between the three contenders for Chancellor in Germany underlined the problem CDU and Armin Laschet is having. Can this still be turned around?"

Agencies contributed to the story.