Friedrich Merz, the unpopular German Chancellor

BerlinThe popularity of German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz has fallen to historic lows in Germany. Merz has achieved something that seemed difficult when he arrived at the Chancellery almost a year ago: in a few months, he has become more unpopular than his predecessor in office, the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz. According to a Forsa survey for RTL and NTV, 80% of Germans are dissatisfied with Merz's management. Only 18% (two percentage points less) of respondents are satisfied with the work of the Christian Democrat Chancellor.

there has been no honeymoon between the Germans and MerzAfter only a few months in the Chancellery, there has been no honeymoon between Germans and Merz. The coalition of conservatives and social democrats he leads is more unpopular than the reviled “traffic light” coalition (formed by social democrats, liberals, and greens) and his much-maligned predecessor in office. Even Scholz, chancellor between December 2021 and May 2025, was much more popular at his lowest point than the current conservative leader. In mid-June 2024, 28% of respondents still considered Scholz's work as federal chancellor to be good.

That Germans do not like Merz, who was Angela Merkel's political rival within the conservative party, is not new. The chancellor “was already one of the most unpopular political figures in the Federal Republic during his first period as an active politician in the early 2000s,” recalls Forsa director Manfred Güllner. Merz returned to German politics in 2018, at the end of the Merkel era, after enriching himself in the business world, but he also failed to connect with Germans. Despite having a very professional profile and maintaining a good reputation in Europe, in Germany he has a reputation for being an arrogant and impulsive politician.

His unfulfilled electoral promises, his wavering on issues like the war against Iran, his continuous communication errors, and the weakness of the German economy have not helped him gain points among his compatriots. Merz makes the same mistake again and again: he makes big announcements and generates expectations that he cannot fulfill, which leads to disappointment. For example, in November 2025, Merz announced with great fanfare a "autumn of reforms". Contrary to his initial plans, the government is now talking about "a window of reforms" by the summer, and the opposition is already enormous. All this could generate even more discontent and cost him dearly at the polls, considering that regional elections will be held in September in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Berlin.

The Syrian refugees' mess

Merz is a specialist in getting into trouble from which he later finds it difficult to escape. The chancellor has been accused of racism for referring to undocumented immigrants as a “problem in the urban landscape” in major cities like Berlin and Frankfurt. He has also linked migration to the increase in violence against women. A couple of weeks ago, he caused a great controversy by saying that around 80% of Syrians living in Germany should return to their country of origin within three years. In response to criticism, Merz justified it by saying that this was the wish of the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa. However, the Syrian president clarified that it was Merz who had given the figure. If in three years he does not achieve this difficult and controversial goal, he will give more ammunition to the far-right, which will accuse him of having broken this promise.

His unpopularity is already taking its toll on his party in the polls. If federal elections were held in Germany this Sunday, the far-right party Alternative for Germany would be the most voted with 26% of the vote, followed by the CDU-CSU with 24% (-2), their worst result since January. The Greens would remain at 15% and the Social Democrats at 12% of the vote. The far-left party Die Linke would gain one percentage point compared to the previous poll and reach 11%.