Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the CDU and the ruling black-red coalition are experiencing their lowest level of popularity with Germans since he began his term last May. According to a survey by the polling institute Insa for “Bild am Sonntag” 70 percent of eligible voters are dissatisfied with Merz’s performance, marking a level of dissatisfaction previously unseen. Only 21 percent report being satisfied.
Dissatisfaction with the black-red coalition is even higher, with 73 percent of respondents voicing their unhappiness, compared to only 20 percent who are satisfied-also a record low. This dissatisfaction is apparent across party lines; 69 percent of SPD voters and 56 percent of CDU/CSU supporters are unhappy with the coalition’s work. Furthermore, only 28 percent of SPD voters and 49 percent of CDU/CSU supporters are satisfied with Chancellor Merz personally.
Chancellor Merz’s policies are particularly poorly received in the eastern regions, where only 12 percent of people approve of his work, while a staggering 80 percent are dissatisfied. Hermann Binkert, head of Insa, noted to “Bild am Sonntag” that even voters from the governing parties are largely dissatisfied with the federal government. He added that “it is unlikely that the chancellor and the coalition will succeed in reversing this trend fundamentally”.
In Insa’s “Sonntagstrend” which is calculated weekly for “Bild am Sonntag” the AfD remains the strongest force with 26 percent, closely followed by CDU/CSU at 25 percent (neither figure has changed from the previous week). The SPD managed to gain one point to reach 14 percent, while the Greens also increased by one point to 13 percent. The Left Party (10 percent) and other parties (5 percent) each lost one percentage point. The polling numbers stayed flat for the FDP (3 percent) and BSW (4 percent). The survey was conducted with 1,205 people between April 7th and 10th.
