Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz – Friedrich Merz’s full name – has gone from being Angela Merkel’s political rival within the conservative party to becoming Germany’s new chancellor. Merz, 69, will govern Europe’s largest economy for the next four years in coalition with the Social Democrats, after his party won the federal elections last FebruaryAnd after he has gained enough support in the Bundestag to be elected head of government, despite the scare of the first vote, in which he did not obtain enough votes: a warning that he probably will not have a peaceful term in office.