BERLIN—Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting has clinched a deal to form a new coalition, officials said on Wednesday. Now he must persuade Germans who have been deserting his party in droves since he won the election that he can fix the economy and get immigration under control.

Even as Friedrich Merz of the CDU/CSU bloc has struck a deal to form a government in Germany, the far-right AfD has emerged as the most popular party in the country for the first time

Germany's next leader, the conservative Friedrich Merz, vowed Wednesday to "move the country forward again" by boosting the economy and defence as he presented a deal to launch his coalition