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- October 13, 202618°
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- INTEREST37.00%-1.00
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- October 13, 202618°
Half of German voters expect Merz to leave office by year-end
According to a YouGov poll, 48% of German voters think Chancellor Friedrich Merz will no longer be in office by the end of the year. While 31% expect Merz to remain in office, 21% are undecided; the poll was published ahead of Sunday’s state elections.
Forty-eight percent of voters in Germany believe Chancellor Friedrich Merz will no longer be in office by the end of December. In a representative poll conducted by YouGov, 31% of respondents said Merz would remain in office, while 21% said they were undecided.
The poll was published ahead of Sunday’s elections in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin. The results suggest that Merz’s party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), could face significant losses in both electoral areas.
CDU declines in three state elections
The CDU also suffered a heavy defeat in Saxony-Anhalt this month. The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) came first with 43.8% of the vote, while the CDU received 17.2%.
The result represented a significant defeat for the CDU, which had governed the state for decades with changing coalition partners.
The latest poll published by ZDF put the CDU’s support in Berlin at approximately 20%. This is below the 28.2% the party received in the 2023 elections. The Left Party, which leads with 22%, raises the possibility of a three-party government without the CDU.
In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the CDU’s support has remained at around 6% in recent polls. The party is only just above the 5% threshold required to enter the state parliament. ZDF’s latest survey put the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) at 37% and the anti-immigration AfD at 36%.
Leadership debate within the CDU
Although local issues influence state elections, some observers say the CDU’s decline in three state elections this month was compounded by Merz’s weak performance in office. This situation has increased pressure within the party for Merz to step down.
The CDU’s senior officials plan to hold an internal meeting on Monday. CDU lawmakers and members of parliament from the Christian Social Union (CSU), the party’s sister organization in Bavaria, are also expected to meet two days later.
A possible leadership change in the CDU would not automatically mean the dissolution of parliament or a national election. If pressure within the party leads Merz to step down, the Bundestag could elect a new chancellor without a nationwide election being held.
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