Support for Angela Merkel’s centre-right bloc has dropped to its lowest point since 2006, polling figures show, after recent high profile criticism of the German Chancellor’s decision to open the nation’s borders.
Bild am Sonntag’s weekly ‘Sunday Trend’ poll revealed that voter backing for Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), had fallen to 29 percent.
Conducted by pollster Emnid, which offered no explanation for the change in figures, the survey showed support for the bloc had dropped one point from the previous week, and 4 points since September’s election, which had already been branded a “disaster” for Germany’s establishment parties.
Merkel’s freefalling popularity since the vote last year failed to translate into increased voter confidence in her coalition partners, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), however, with polls revealing support dropped a point from the previous week, to 18 percent.
Support for the Eurosceptic, patriotic Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which entered parliament for the first time last year — becoming the nation’s third-largest party with 12 percent of the vote — stood unchanged from the previous week, at 15 percent, in the latest Bild poll.
Backing for the Greens rose two points to 14 percent, a figure which marked the far left party’s best showing this year, while voter intentions for the Left party and the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) remained at 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
Germany’s ruling coalition has come under increasing strain in recent months resulting from fundamental differences in outlook on migration policy between open borders-backing Merkel and her conservative Bavarian allies.
On the topic of mass third world migration to Europe, the Chancellor is a proponent of policies put forward by arch-globalist billionaire George Soros — who views the continent’s borders as an “obstacle” needing to be brought down — while the CSU is more sympathetic towards the outlook of patriotic governments in central Europe and Italy which prioritise the safety of their citizens.
In an interview with the German press published at the weekend, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán outlined clear differences between his leadership and that of Merkel on migration controls, pointing out that he would have been ‘chased out of office’ had he opened the nation’s borders as Germany did at the Chancellor’s direction.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald J Trump caused uproar in the liberal media after describing mass migration to Europe as “a shame” and “very, very sad” in remarks made during his trip to the continent earlier this month.
In previous comments lamenting the effect of Merkel’s decision to open the EU’s borders, the conservative American leader has noted the Chancellor’s role in the crisis “destroying Europe” led to plummeting support at the polls, adding that the influx has been a “disaster” for Germany which has fuelled a rise in serious crimes.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.