Free voter boss Hubert Aiwanger is criticized for his controversial statements at a rally in Erding by a majority of Bavarians. In a new poll commissioned by Sat.1 Bavaria and Antenna Bavaria 61 percent of those questioned condemned Aiwanger’s sentence that the silent majority had to “take back democracy”. On the other hand, 31 percent did not want to explicitly condemn the statement. In the survey by the GMS Institute, which was published on Tuesday, 43 percent of Freie Wahler supporters distanced themselves from the sentence – 49 percent did not. Only AfD supporters (59 percent) agreed more with the statement.
What is striking is that three months before the state elections on October 8, according to the survey, dissatisfaction with the federal government is not only growing in Bavaria, but also with the Bavarian state government. Approval for Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) is also falling. Dissatisfaction with the work of the federal government has reached a new all-time high at 73 percent, with only 23 percent expressing satisfaction. According to the survey, 66 percent are dissatisfied with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and only 30 percent are satisfied. But satisfaction with the Bavarian state government is only 47 percent – that’s a drop of six percentage points compared to the survey in May/June. 48 percent (plus four points) are very or rather dissatisfied with the work of the state government.
And: Only 51 percent think Söder is a good prime minister – that’s the lowest value in years. 45 percent do not consider the CSU leader to be a good head of government. However, a clear majority still wants a CSU-led government, either alone (29 percent) or with a coalition partner (36 percent). 27 percent want a coalition government made up of other parties without the participation of the CSU. If there were a state election on Sunday, the CSU and Free Voters could continue their coalition. In the Sunday question, however, the CSU – unlike in previous polls – no longer exceeds 40 percent (minus one).
The Greens with 15, the Free Voters with twelve and the AfD with 13 percent, on the other hand, can each gain one percentage point compared to the last survey. The SPD is nine percent (minus one). The FDP remains at just four percent, so it must continue to worry about re-entering the Bavarian state parliament. Meanwhile, the head of the CSU state group, Alexander Dobrindt, distanced himself from Aiwanger’s controversial sentence. “To put it diplomatically, this sentence is unwise, but it is also dangerous,” said Dobrindt main echo (Tuesday). “Nobody has to take back democracy in Germany. Deliberately creating this impression pushes people up and only fuels conspiracy tales.”
The voter check of Sat.1 Bavaria and Antenna Bavaria was carried out by the Hamburg survey institute GMS. It is a representative telephone survey in Bavaria with 1006 respondents in the period from June 28th to July 3rd, 2023.