Chancellor Merz still least liked national politician for Germans — poll

Chancellor Merz still least liked national politician for Germans — poll The poll was conducted from August 7 to 10 and involved 2,010 respondentsBERLIN, August 11. /TASS/. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is still mired in last place in the popularity ranking of German politicians, according to the results of an opinion poll conducted by the INSA pollster for the Bild newspaper. On a 10-point scale, Merz scored only 2.6 points, placing him last (20th) on the list. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius continues to top the ranking with 4.9 points. He is followed by Cem Ozdemir, Minister-President of Baden-Wurttemberg (4.4 points), and Hendrik Wust, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, who rounds out the top three (4.2 points). Manuela Schwesig, Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, has unexpectedly made it into the top five most popular politicians in Germany – she is in fourth place with 4.1 points. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will elect its new parliament on September 20. According to the latest polls, the support rating of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) stands at 29%, or 7 percentage points (pp) less than that of Alternative for Germany (AfD), whose rating stands at 36%. Previously, the gap was 10 pp. Bavaria’s Minister-President Markus Soeder descended to fifth place at 4 points, while AfD leader Alice Weidel dropped from eighth to tenth place. The poll was conducted from August 7 to 10 and involved 2,010 respondents. Der Spiegel reported earlier that the leadership of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) does not rule out that Merz could resign following the upcoming parliamentary elections in three German federal states this September. Some believe that after the elections in the east of the country, Merz will be forced to step down. According to his allies, if around three influential minister-presidents hint to the Chancellor that, for the good of the country and the party, he must vacate his office, Merz will go. However, there is no absolute certainty about this. 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