70% of Germans want a new chancellor – poll

NewsRescue

According to an INSA study done for the daily Bild, more than two-thirds of German voters are unhappy with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

A increasing number of people are dissatisfied with Scholz’s so-called “traffic light” coalition of the SPD, Greens, and Free Democrats (FDP), with support ratings for all three falling after 18 months in government.

Only 15% of respondents to a Bild poll issued on Saturday thought the traffic light coalition was doing a good job, while nearly half thought the previous grand coalition of the CDU/CSU and the SPD did a better job.

Almost two-thirds (64%) of respondents believed a change of government would “benefit” Germany, while less than one-quarter (22%) would prefer to preserve the current coalition. 70% of respondents (out of 1,004 polled between August 17 and 18) were dissatisfied with Scholz personally.

A Forsa Institute survey commissioned by the country’s largest public sector employee union last week also revealed that trust in the government has reached new lows in Germany, with the majority of the populace believing their authorities are incapable of performing their duties. The number of people who believe the leadership is “overwhelmed” by the responsibilities it faces has risen to 69%, while the number of people who still believe in the ability of their public officials has dropped by two percentage points since last year, to 27%.

Another poll, commissioned in early August by Germany’s ARD public broadcaster, shows that public approval of the German government has dropped to 21%, down from 60% in 2020.