According to a recent survey conducted by the polling institute Forsa, 47 percent of respondents consider former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) to be suitable for the position of Federal President. However, RTL and ntv, which commissioned the study, reported that 48 percent believe she is not suitable. Five percent of respondents could not give an assessment or did not know Merkel.
The rankings for other candidates are as follows: Ilse Aigner, the President of the Bavarian State Parliament (CSU), was placed second with 26 percent support, followed by entertainer Hape Kerkeling at 24 percent. Julia Klöckner (CDU) received 20 percent, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) garnered 19 percent, and Markus Söder (CSU) had 18 percent support. Boris Rhein (CDU) was supported by 11 percent, while Karin Prien (CDU) received only 7 percent.
When discussing familiarity, 36 percent indicated they did not know Ilse Aigner or could not give an opinion. This rate was significantly higher for Boris Rhein at 62 percent and Karin Prien at 54 percent.
Support for Merkel is notably strong among various political groups. Among CDU/CSU supporters, 55 percent find her suitable. She also receives the highest backing from SPD followers (55 percent), Greens (75 percent), and Die Linke (70 percent). Among AfD supporters, 23 percent think she is suitable.
Hape Kerkeling also found particular support among Die Linke supporters, with 47 percent deeming him suitable. Similarly, among CDU/CSU supporters, Julia Klöckner (50 percent) and Ilse Aigner (47 percent) were viewed as suitable.
Forsa collected data from 1,000 people on August 5th and 6th.
