German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is dragging the SPD further and further into the abyss. This is evident from a new survey by the ZDF “Politbarometer”. The German Social Democrats are only in fourth place, while other parties are on the rise.
Germany’s Social Democrats fell to 14 percentage points in the Elections Research Group poll published on Friday, lagging behind the Greens, who rose to 15 percentage points. The far-right AfD party gained two points before its party conference in Riesa, Saxony, reaching its highest “Politbarometer” value in a year with 21 percentage points.
The Union (CDU/CSU) clearly remains the strongest force, but loses one point and now reaches 30 percent. Arithmetically possible, government alliances would be between the Union and the Greens or between the Union and the SPD. Cooperation with the AfD was ruled out by everyone.
Liberals threatened expulsion from parliament
At four percent each, the liberal FDP, the Left Party and the left-wing populist BSW would not exceed the five percent threshold. All other parties together reach eight percent.
On the chancellor question, Green Party candidate Robert Habeck improved by two points to 27 percent. He is now on a par with Union candidate Friedrich Merz (minus two). AfD leader Alice Weidel gets 15 percent (minus one). Incumbent Olaf Scholz (SPD) loses two points and ends up in last place with 14 percent of all four candidates for chancellor.
Scholz is currently facing multiple crises. According to forecasts, Germany has experienced the second year of recession in a row, the number of unemployed is rising and industry is cutting jobs en masse. The prestigious car industry in particular is doing poorly.
Pistorius remains the “most important” politician
But there are also bright spots among the social democrats. In the ranking of the ten most important politicians, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) remains clearly in first place with 1.7 points, despite a minus of 0.3 points. However, in the internal candidates duel, Pistorius made way for Scholz.
For the ZDF “Political Barometer”, the Election Research Group surveyed a total of 1,433 eligible voters online and by telephone between January 7 and 9. The statistical fluctuation range is shown as plus/minus two to three percentage points.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
