Scholz and Ampelkoalition gain approval – CDU continues to sag

ZDF “Politbarometer”
Three out of four Germans want Scholz as chancellor – the union continues to crash

Almost three weeks after the general election, there is still a high level of support for a traffic light coalition in Germany and great support for a possible Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). As the ZDF “Politbarometer” published on Friday showed, three quarters of all respondents think it is good if Scholz becomes Federal Chancellor. Clear majorities of the SPD, Greens, FDP and Left supporters see it that way, but also 55 percent of the Union supporters.

According to the survey, the coalition preferences in the population are also quite clear: 62 percent of all respondents would find a government made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP to be good, 16 percent would not care and 19 percent would find it bad. A Jamaica coalition of the CDU / CSU, the Greens and the FDP is rejected by a majority of 64 percent, as is a coalition of the SPD and the Union (bad: 63 percent). 88 percent of those surveyed expect that the traffic light coalition will come about, only seven percent do not.

Split opinion on finance and tax policy

Questions were also asked about problematic topics for possible coalition negotiations. There are considerable differences between the SPD and the Greens on the one hand and the FDP on the other, particularly in financial and tax policy.

This is also reflected in the responses of those surveyed: If the state were to take on additional debt in view of the political and economic situation, 41 percent would find it good and 53 percent would not. Majorities among supporters of the Greens (67 percent) and the left (57 percent) are in favor of an increase in national debt, while this is rather controversial among SPD supporters (for: 45 percent).

For the supporters of the CDU / CSU, the FDP and the AfD, only just under a quarter are each for additional debt. On the other hand, 75 percent of all respondents agree with higher taxation of high incomes, while 21 percent are against. Even among the supporters of the CDU / CSU (62 percent) and the FDP (52 percent), majorities are in favor of a corresponding tax increase, as the survey further showed.

Union sinks below the 20 percent mark

In the so-called Sunday question, the SPD’s big lead over the Union was retained: If there were to be a federal election next Sunday, the SPD would get an unchanged 28 percent, the CDU / CSU would have to reckon with 19 percent (minus one point), the Greens would get 17 Percent (plus one), the FDP to an unchanged 13 percent, the AfD to eleven percent (plus one) and the left to an unchanged five percent.

When assessing sympathy and performance, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) is still in first place with an average value of 2.3 (previously 2.3) on the scale from plus five to minus five. This is followed by Scholz with 2.0 (previously 2.2) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) with a value of 1.8.

Green leader Robert Habeck is fourth with 1.7 (previously 1.6), followed by FDP leader Christian Lindner with 0.9 (previously 1.0) and CSU leader Markus Söder with 0.5 (previously 1, 1). In seventh place is Green Party leader Annalena Baerbock with 0.4 (previously 0.4), followed by Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) with minus 0.1 (previously 0.0), and CDU politician Friedrich Merz with minus 0.4 (previously minus 0.2) and CDU boss Armin Laschet with minus 1.3 (previously minus 1.2).

The Mannheim research group Wahlen interviewed 1329 randomly selected voters by telephone from Tuesday to Thursday of this week. The error range is around plus / minus three percentage points for a share of 40 percent and around plus / minus percentage points for a share of 10 percent.

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AFP