German government’s approval rating hits an all-time low

BERLIN

Support for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government has declined to the lowest level of 17%, a new poll by the country's public broadcaster has found.


The ARD’s poll showed that 82% of Germans were either less than happy or not happy at all with the coalition government’s performance in the past two years.


The figures released on Thursday night put support for Chancellor Scholz’s Social Democrat Party (SPD) at 14%, down two points from the beginning of last month.


The SPD’s coalition partner, the environmentalist Greens scored 15% voter support in the poll. The junior coalition partner, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), was at 4%.


Germany’s main opposition, the conservative alliance of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), was favored by 32% of respondents.


The poll found that 21% of German voters would give their vote to the far-right AfD, making it the second-strongest party behind the CDU/CSU bloc.


When asked about the current budget crisis, and how to close the 2024 budget gap, the majority of the respondents said the government should take saving measures.


Some 54% of Germans said they would support possible cuts to military aid to Ukraine. Another 41% said the government should consider allocating less funds for investments in climate-friendly technologies.


The representative poll was conducted by the research institute infratest dimap on Dec. 4-6 with a sample of 1,364 people nationwide.