Merz is almost certain to replace Scholz as the country’s next chancellor after his Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), finished first with 28.5% of the vote.
Merz arrived at the Chancellery in Berlin for discussions that are expected to centre around the transition phase before the formation of the next government.
Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) suffered their worst-ever showing, finishing in third with 16.4% of the vote, and are widely expected to become the junior coalition partner in Merz’s future government.
Scholz has previously said he will play no role in those coalition talks but will remain in his post until the next government is formed.
Afterwards, Scholz plans to give up any leadership posts but remain as a backbencher in the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany’s parliament.
Instead, SPD co-chairman Lars Klingbeil has taken the lead in future talks so far, and had an initial discussion with Merz on Monday.
Before meeting with Scholz, Merz met in Berlin with other key leaders in his CDU/CSU bloc, including Bavarian state Premier Markus Söder and CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann.
