Over 75% of Germans unhappy with government — Survey

Around three-quarters of German people are not happy with the work of their current government, according to a survey published by broadcaster RTL and its subsidiary n-tv on Tuesday.

Out of 1,002 respondents, 77 per cent said they were less satisfied or not satisfied at all with the current government in the poll conducted by the research institute Forsa at the beginning of July.

This figure was 64 per cent in February 2022, towards the beginning of the coalition’s time in government.

The survey had a statistical margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Germany’s three-way-coalition involving Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), has been in power since December 2021.

A majority of those who supported one of the three governing parties also shared this assessment: 52 per cent of SPD voters.

Others were; 55 per cent of Greens and 71 per cent of FDP voters said they were dissatisfied with the coalition’s work.

A key topic in the survey was Germany’s controversial heating law, which aimed to ensure that at least 65 per cent of new heating systems were powered by renewable energy.

The question over how much of this would be subsidised by the government has been hotly debated for months.

In a blow to Scholz’s government, the heating law was halted by Germany’s top court last week, to prevent lawmakers from rushing the issue through parliament.

The survey showed that 61 per cent of people felt the heating law issue showed that the coalition was governing “unprofessionally and chaotically’’.

Meanwhile, 35 per cent felt this assessment was exaggerated.

The heating law has been pushed back until September.

[dpa/NAN]