Friedrich Merz Even Less Popular than His Predecessor
The first 100 days of Germany’s new chancellor have not been a roaring success, and that's putting it mildly. Friedrich Merz is even less popular than his predecessor. Moreover, his policies are now drawing criticism from within his own party, while the right-wing AfD is gaining ground. Yet, AfD politicians are facing serious attacks – and not just in the form of verbal abuse.
Friedrich Merz’s first 100 days as Germany’s chancellor have not met with the unanimous approval of voters, who rated him lower than his predecessor, Olaf Scholz. According to the latest Insa poll, published in the German paper Bild am Sonntag in recent days, 59 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the Christian Democrat politician’s performance, while only 30 percent said they were satisfied.
This is a far worse result than the Socialist Mr. Scholz achieved in his first 100 days, when 43 percent of respondents said they were satisfied and 41 percent dissatisfied.
Insa found that 27 percent of respondents considered Mr. Merz’s performance worse, and 26 percent better, than that of Mr. Scholz. The same pattern applied to the current coalition between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
Only 27 percent of those surveyed expressed satisfaction with the coalition, while 60 percent of Germans said they were dissatisfied with the government.
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Der Anteil der Unzufriedenen (60 Prozent) mit Bundeskanzler Merz und der schwarz-roten Bundesregierung ist nach 100 Tagen im Amt doppelt so hoch wie der Anteil der Zufriedenen (27 Prozent).https://t.co/mxaoKqCtu0 pic.twitter.com/kXsHC9Mecq
— Tatjana🗣 (@Absurdistan2020) August 10, 2025
Friedrich Merz under Fire from His Own Party
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is facing heavy backlash not just from his voters,m but also from within his own Conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party after his surprise decision to ban arms exports to Israel, according to an article by the Brussels Signal.
Mr.Merz reportedly took the decision on 8 August without consulting fellow party leaders in order to placate his junior coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD). The German press highligjted that, according to insider information, Merz only discussed the arms embargo beforehand with his SPD vice chancellor Lars Klingbeil — but did not co-ordinate with anybody from his own party. The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung mephasized that many CDU members were “stunned, angry, and horrified” with Merz’s move to block any exports of German weapons to Israel that could be used in the Gaza war.
For instance, CDU MP Roderich Kiesewetter wrote on X:
“Personally, I consider the suspension of arms deliveries to Israel to be a serious political and strategic mistake on Germany’s part.”
The CDU’s youth organisation Junge Union (JU) told German media outlet Os Kurier that the decision was “a break with the basic values of CDU politics”.
Merz in Hot Water, as AfD Gains Strenth
Meanwhile, the popularity and support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party continues to rise.
A Forsa poll in early August put support for AfD at 25 percent, placing it level with the CDU/CSU, which also stood at 25 percent.
AfD erreicht alten Rekordwert von 25 Prozent https://t.co/IA9iGAwMUF pic.twitter.com/qxRhYKoHSf
— WELT (@welt) August 3, 2025
AfD politicians, however, have been facing serious attacks – and not only in the political arena. Their representatives are at greater risk of violent assaults than members of any other political party.
In the first six months of 2025, the German interior ministry recorded 68 attacks against AfD politicians, compared with a total of only 30 against politicians from all other parties combined.
These broke down as follows:
- SDP: 9 attacks,
- CDU: 7 attacks,
- FDP: 6 attacks,
- Greens: 4 attacks,
- Die Linke: 4 attacks.
The ministry released these figures at the request of AfD representative Martin Hess. And it’s not just the fact that AfD politicians were at greater risk of violent assault, but the number of such attacks also rose by around 40 percent. Between January and June 2024, the ministry had recorded 48 attacks against right-wing politicians. In Germany overall, the number of violent attacks against politicians is rising by around 30 percent each year.
Most of these incidents were committed by far-left extremists, who were responsible for 64 of the 98 attacks recorded. This means that two-thirds of all attacks, and 90 percent of violent assaults against AfD members, were carried out by the far left.
Of the 68 recorded assaults, only six were committed by far-right extremists. Most of the remaining incidents could not be linked to any specific ideological group, according to date published by the interior ministry.