Support for German government at all-time low, poll finds, as concerns over economy grow

BERLIN

Support for Germany’s liberal- left coalition government slumped to an all-time low of 36%, while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) reached a record-high 22%, a new poll by the country's public broadcaster has found.

The figures released on Thursday night put support for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrat Party (SPD) at 16%, down one point from the beginning of last month.

The SPD’s coalition partner, the environmentalist Greens, also lost one point, falling back to a 14% voter share. The junior coalition partner, the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), was at 6%.

Germany’s main opposition, the conservative alliance of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), was favored by 29% of respondents.

The far-right AfD, which has been under surveillance by the intelligence for posing a threat to democracy, recorded a new high of 22% support, according to the ARD DeutschlandTrend survey.

The poll found that economy has become a top concern for German voters, and 46% said they expect that the economic situation will be worse in a year than it is today.

Some 26% of the voters cited immigration as their top concern, followed by climate change (18%), social injustice and poverty (16%), and the government’s energy policy (9%).

The far-right AfD has doubled its vote share since the last election in 2021, benefiting from broad dissatisfaction with the coalition government’s policies.

Some 79% of those surveyed were either less than happy or not happy at all with the center-left liberal coalition government, according to the latest poll. Only 19% of voters said the government was performing well.

Leading figures of the AfD repeatedly criticized Scholz government’s stance on Russia-Ukraine war, opposed sending weapons to Ukraine, and argued that ending energy imports from Russia was against Germany’s national interests.