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Four in five Germans disapprove of Merz after his cabinet's first year in office — poll

The survey described this as the worst result ever recorded for a sitting German chancellor

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz

© AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

BERLIN, May 7. /TASS/. About 85% of Germans are dissatisfied with the performance of Chancellor Friedrich Merz one year after the government formed by the CDU/CSU bloc and the SPD took office, according to a survey conducted by the research institute Infratest dimap for the ARD television channel.

According to the poll, only 16% of respondents are satisfied with Merz’s performance, down five percentage points from April, while 83% expressed dissatisfaction, up seven percentage points. The survey described this as the worst result ever recorded for a sitting German chancellor.

By comparison, in June 2025 - one month after taking office - Merz’s approval rating stood at 39%. The lowest rating recorded for his predecessor, Olaf Scholz, was 18% in September 2024. In addition, 69% of respondents said Merz is failing to fulfill his duties, while only 25% disagreed. Last August, 42% of respondents considered him a suitable candidate for chancellor.

The survey also found strong public criticism of the chancellor’s communication style. Only 14% of respondents described his tone as convincing, down 20 percentage points from August 2025, while 82% disagreed with that assessment, an increase of 21 percentage points.

The poll was conducted from May 4 to 6 among 1,303 participants.

May 6 marked one year since the German government led by Merz and formed by the CDU/CSU and SPD took office. According to recent polling, support for both parties has weakened significantly, while Alternative for Germany has become the country’s most popular party in some surveys.

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Germany Public opinion

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