Who is Friedrich Merz, the favorite to become Germany's new chancellor?

From cnbc.com

Friedrich Merz, migration hardliner and longtime rival of Angela Merkel, is expected to become Germany’s next chancellor. His party the Christian Democratic Union is leading polls alongside its affiliate the Christian Social Union just days before the election. Back in September, Merz was elected as the CDU’s party’s designated candidate for chancellor in this year’s federal elections, after leading the organization and heading the opposition CDU-CSU parliamentary group since 2022. The CSU is a regional party which has dominated Bavarian politics for decades and forms a union with the CDU at a federal level. ... (full story)