Friedrich Merz approval hits 13%

German politics is usually built around steadiness. That is the whole brand. So when a chancellor is one year into office and only 13% of voters say they are satisfied, the story is not just “bad polling.” It is that the basic promise of competence has broken down. On May 6, the one-year mark of Friedrich Merz’s chancellorship, a new Forsa poll for RTL/ntv showed exactly that — and it landed as his coalition was already fighting on multiple fronts. ### Why is 13% such a big deal? Because this is not a normal midterm slump. The Forsa numbers put satisfaction with Merz at 13% and satisfaction with his CDU/CSU-SPD government at 11%. Dissatisfaction is overwhelming — 85% for Merz, 87% for the coalition. That is not a narrow political problem. It is broad rejection. ### What were voters promised? Merz came in on May 6, 2025, saying he would restore order after the collapse of Olaf Scholz’s government, revive the economy, and make Berlin look more decisive at home and abroad. Instead, one year later, the economy is still weak, inflation remains a live complaint, and the coalition looks noisy and brittle rather than disciplined. ### So what went wrong? A lot of the criticism comes down to priorities and style. Manfred Güllner of Forsa argued that Merz made migration the headline issue when voters were more worried about prices and growth. On top of that, Merz has developed a reputation for impulsive remarks and coalition management by irritation — exactly the opposite of what German voters usually reward in a chancellor. ### Is this just about Merz personally? No — but his personal weakness makes the coalition’s weakness impossible to hide. The CDU/CSU governs with the SPD, and the partnership was supposed to look calmer than Scholz’s failed three-party alliance. Turns out it often survive have become part of the story. ### Where does AfD fit in? This is the part that really matters. Merz argued that competent mainstream government would shrink the far-right Alternative for Germany. The opposite has happened. AFP’s reporting says AfD is now approaching 28% in polls — roughly where Merz’s CDU/CSU finished in the 20s, producing apathy. It is feeding the strongest challenger outside the mainstream bloc. ### Could the coalition actually break? It is not inevitable, but the fear is real enough that Merz has publicly ruled out both a minority government and early elections. Even that kind of denial tells you where the conversation is. When a chancellor has to say the government is not about to fall apart, people are already imagining the fall apart. ### Why is Olaf Scholz suddenly part of this? Because the SPD is the junior partner keeping Merz in office. Scholz has been urging his party to stick with the coalition and warning against any drift toward normalizing AfD. Basically, even Merz’s predecessor sees coalition discipline as part of the firewall holding the system together. ### What is the real bottom line? The problem is not one ugly poll. It is that after a year, Merz still has not convinced voters that his government knows what problem it is trying to solve. In Germany, that kind of vacuum gets filled fast — by coalition panic, by opposition momentum, and right now by AfD.