Amid turmoil, a fearful Germany goes to the polls

“MANY PEOPLE…have the vague feeling that something is no longer right with our country and the situation in the world.” Writing in his final “MerzMail” dispatch before Germany’s election on Sunday Friedrich Merz, who is all but certain to take over as the tenth chancellor of the federal republic after the vote, offers not the bland optimism of the leader in waiting but the unvarnished truths of the plain speaker. “Unlike so many federal elections”, Mr Merz writes, this year’s is “marked by great uncertainty and upheaval”. Surveys of the national mood concur. Just 18% of Germans believe the country is on the right path. Rarely has such a pall of anxiety hung over an election campaign in Europe’s biggest economy.