Merz appears set to be Germany's next chancellor. Voters in Germany yesterday threw their support behind centrist conservatives with the far right in second place, a sharp rebuke to the nation's left-leaning government amid unhappiness about immigration and the economy. The next chancellor will almost certainly be Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democrats. Returns posted early this morning indicated that he had a path to governing Germany with a single coalition partner, the center-left Social Democrats -- the relatively stable scenario his party had hoped for. Merz has ruled out allying with the far right.