German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that he does not consider the current wave of dissatisfaction with the German government, composed of the CDU/CSU and the SPD, to be unusual and noted that he takes this attitude seriously.
“Of course I take the dissatisfaction seriously“, Merz said on ARD. “However, this is a phenomenon that other governments have also encountered“, he added. After a while, according to the Chancellor, disappointment and criticism always set in and coalitions become unbalanced.
“Look at Helmut Kohl's first year, look at Gerhard Schröder's first year“, Merz emphasized, citing his predecessors.
He noted that difficult times, ups and downs are constant. “The best conclusion would be to prove that we in this coalition are capable and can make decisions that meet the challenges of the time“, he said.
Speaking of his readiness to raise the issue of confidence in the government in the Bundestag during lengthy debates, Merz replied that “he does not need to do that at the moment“. "That is always an option for every chancellor, but I have no reason to think about it at the moment," he said.
Commenting on his own communication style, the German chancellor acknowledged that such behavior sometimes carries risks. "But I believe that many people in this country want to know what their politicians really think. "And I try to express this in my own style," he said.
According to the latest survey conducted by the INSA sociological institute for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, over 70% of Germans are dissatisfied with Merz's (CDU) performance, and over 75% of Germans are dissatisfied with the country's governance.
May 6 will mark one year since the German government, consisting of the conservative bloc of the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (GDP), took office under Merz's leadership. Polls have significantly weakened the positions of the CDU/CDU and the GDP.
Meanwhile, the “Alternative for Germany“ (AfD) has already taken first place in some of them, becoming the most popular party.