Polls: “There is only one popular German politician,” says the pollster | EUROtoday

German residents are ending the 12 months in a divided temper. This is how opinion researcher Matthias Jung from the Elections Research Group assesses it in an interview with the “Tagesspiegel”. “The Germans overwhelmingly rate their personal situation positively. This also applies to their own economic situation – although somewhat less strongly than five or ten years ago,” Jung instructed the newspaper.

“However, if you ask about Germany’s economic situation, we see a pessimistic assessment and very negative expectations for the future,” added Jung. The Germans are subsequently fearful concerning the nation’s financial state of affairs as a result of “it can have long-term effects on themselves.”

According to the demoscope, Friedrich Merz (CDU) ended the primary calendar 12 months of his chancellorship with unusually low approval scores and no chancellor bonus. “For months we have been measuring new lows for satisfaction with Friedrich Merz’s work,” mentioned Jung. In addition, his reputation scores are adverse, as they had been earlier than the federal election.

On the plus/minus 5 scale, Merz’s common values ​​are nearly totally within the adverse vary. “Merz is highly polarizing: the remaining Union supporters rate him well, but the majority rate him negatively. So far he has not been able to benefit significantly from the office of Chancellor,” mentioned Jung.

In the ZDF political barometer from the Elections analysis group from December, Merz achieved an approval score of minus 0.6 on the plus/minus 5 scale. The RTL/ntv pattern barometer collected by the opinion analysis institute Forsa lately discovered a rise in Merz’s approval scores – albeit at a low degree. 25 p.c of residents are happy with Merz’s work, two proportion factors greater than within the earlier week.

Boris Pistorius is “unusually popular”

Things look completely different with Boris Pistorius (SPD), mentioned Jung: “There is only one popular German politician, that is Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.” Pistorius is “unusually popular, especially in comparison to Merz, other SPD politicians like Lars Klingbeil and especially to the low approval ratings for the SPD.”

In the ZDF political barometer from December, Pistorius achieved an approval score of plus 1.8 on the plus/minus 5 scale; Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU, plus 0.6) follows him far behind. The SPD is at 14 p.c on the Sunday query. In the federal election in February she acquired 16.4 p.c of the vote.

With regard to the excessive degree of assist for the AfD, Jung mentioned that there’s “no objective upper limit for the AfD, just as there is no lower limit.” If satisfaction with the federal government will increase or the financial system recovers, this may also have an effect on the AfD’s values. “A large part of the AfD’s popularity is of a protest nature. Right-wing extremist positions are part, but not the main reason, for these currently high values,” mentioned Jung.