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Majority of Germans dissatisfied with government and Scholz: poll

Olaf Scholz has failed to win over most Germans with his work as Chancellor, according to a recent survey carried out by opinion pollers Insa.

olaf scholz
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pictured at the Parliamentary Investigation Committee on the CumEx Tax Money Affair, at the city hall in Hamburg, northern Germany, on August 19, 2022. (Photo by Daniel Bockwoldt / AFP)

A total of 62 percent of those questioned said they were dissatisfied with Scholz’s work since he became Chancellor in December 2021, according to the poll, which was commissioned by German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

Only 25 percent rated Scholz positively.

People’s opinions of the so-called traffic light coalition government (SPD, FDP and Greens) were similarly poor: 65 percent rated the government’s work negatively while 27 percent said they were happy with the job they’d done so far.

The poll asked 1,000 people whether they were generally satisfied or dissatisfied with the work of the chancellor and the coalition government.

There were no questions on specific topics.

Positive opinion towards Scholz and his government has clearly deteriorated in recent months: a similar survey at the start of March found that 46 percent of those questioned were happy with Scholz’s work.

Only 39 percent said they were dissatisfied.

People’s feelings about the coalition government at that time were fairly equally split: 44 percent thought they were doing a good job, 43 percent thought they weren’t.

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POLITICS

Scholz calls on coalition to ‘pull ourselves together’

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday called on his fractious governing coalition to "pull ourselves together" following a dismal showing in EU parliament elections last week.

Scholz calls on coalition to 'pull ourselves together'

In power since the end of 2021, the three parties in government — Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the liberal FDP — have been at loggerheads on a wide range of issues including climate measures and budget spending.

“I think that this is one of the entirely justified criticisms of many citizens, namely that there is too much debate” within the coalition, Scholz told German television channel ZDF on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.

“We need to pull ourselves together and stick together to reach agreements,” he added.

“The people have the right to demand that things change,” Scholz told public broadcaster ARD.

The three parties in the coalition suffered a severe defeat in the European elections, with the SPD achieving its worst result in a national election since 1949.

Subsequently, Scholz has faced mounting criticism within his own party.

On Saturday, however, Scholz told ZDF and ARD that he was “sure” that he would be the SPD’s next candidate for the chancellorship in the parliamentary elections scheduled for autumn 2025.

In the very short term, a new test awaits the coalition, which must reach an agreement on the 2025 budget by the beginning of July.

The FDP’s finance minister is opposed to any exceptions to the rules limiting debt and to any tax increases.

On the other hand, the SPD and the Greens are opposed to cuts in social welfare or climate protection.

The debate is also focused on increasing the resources allocated to the German army.

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