Friedrich Merz has earned a distinction no German leader wants: the lowest approval rating ever recorded for a sitting chancellor. Just 13 percent of Germans say they’re satisfied with his performance, according to pollster Forsa, making him even more unpopular than his widely criticized predecessor, Olaf Scholz, The American Conservative reports.
The Christian Democrat Union leader, who once promised to cut support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) in half, has watched that pledge backfire spectacularly. Since 2018, AfD support has more than doubled. The party now commands nearly 30 percent in national polls, while Merz’s CDU and its Bavarian partner CSU have cratered to roughly 20 percent, their lowest level since World War II.
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania this past Sunday, the CDU failed to clear the 5 percent threshold needed to enter parliament. Not a single Christian Democrat will hold a seat in that state’s legislature, a first since 1949. Even Merz himself called the result “disastrous.” The AfD, meanwhile, captured 38 percent of the vote, more than doubling its previous showing.
Two weeks earlier in Saxony-Anhalt, the CDU’s share collapsed by more than half, landing at just 17 percent. The AfD, led by Ulrich Siegmund, secured a commanding 44 percent. That state may soon become the first in Germany with an AfD-led government, a possibility that has rattled the political establishment.
Berlin’s elections brought their own surprises. The post-communist Die Linke party took first place with 26 percent, running on promises to nationalize large housing companies and sharp criticism of Israel. One party event drew controversy when a rapper performed lyrics including “death to the IDF,” reigniting debates about antisemitism on the German left. The capital’s growing Arab population and history of radical politics have made it receptive to such messaging. The head of a notorious Arab clan with multiple convicted criminals in his extended family attended the party’s victory celebration.
The CDU limped into second place in Berlin with less than 19 percent. AfD finished third at 16 percent.
Merz’s troubles extend beyond the ballot box. The chancellor is routinely booed, whistled at, and jeered during public appearances, particularly in eastern Germany where frustration runs deepest. Critics describe him as arrogant and out of touch. His recent cabinet reshuffle was widely seen as botched, and his coalition government with the Social Democrats appears paralyzed, unable to address the nation’s mounting challenges.
Many who hoped Merz would steer Germany in a more conservative direction have been left disappointed. Instead, his tenure has coincided with the accelerating collapse of the traditional center-right in German politics.
The gains for AfD represent a dramatic realignment in a country where the party was long treated as politically untouchable by mainstream parties. In the five states of formerly communist East Germany, AfD support runs even higher than the national average, reflecting deep regional divides that Germany’s establishment parties have failed to bridge.
For Merz, the path forward looks increasingly narrow. His party is hemorrhaging support to the right while remaining unable to energize its traditional base. The coalition he leads appears frozen, lacking both the unity and the mandate to push through meaningful reforms.
