FORMER German Chancellor Angela Merkel slammed her successor as the Christian Democratic Union leader, the frontrunner in Germany’s election next month, for putting to parliament proposals for draconian new migration rules that only passed with the help of a far-right party.

Germany’s current governing parties have cast doubt on whether conservative leader Friedrich Merz can still be trusted not to bring the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) into government after Wednesday’s events.

Mr Merz put a non-binding motion calling for Germany to turn back many more migrants at its borders to a vote, knowing it would need AfD’s votes to pass.