One hundred days after taking power, Friedrich Merz has “nothing to celebrate”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reached the symbolic milestone of 100 days in office this Wednesday, August 13. A period during which he has had to face a succession of crises and a decline in his popularity, according to the daily newspaper “Frankfurter Rundschau.”
It's a very lonely Friedrich Merz at his own birthday party that appears on the front page of the Frankfurter Rundschau this Wednesday, August 13. "Nothing to celebrate," we can read on the front page of the daily, under a despondent-looking chancellor, glass of champagne in hand, sitting under a banner, decorated with black and red balloons - the colors of the coalition parties, the CDU/CSU and the SPD - on which is written "100 days."
In its pages , the social-liberal newspaper paints a mixed picture of the start of the conservative leader's term, as he has allied himself with the Social Democrats to govern. "The Merz government has already had to face several national political crises of varying severity, partly due to the chancellor's impulsive nature – and his obvious lack of empathy," analyses the head of the daily's political service, Christine Dankbar.
Among these crises, it all began with the "dark morning" of May 6 , which saw Angela Merkel's former rival have to endure two votes in the Bundestag before being officially elected chancellor – an affront and a very rare situation in German political history.
Then came several other convulsions of the Merz government such as the forced vote of an XXL budget to the detriment of the traditional budgetary rigor of Berlin, a controversy over the election of a judge to the Constitutional Court or, recently, the announcement by Friedrich Merz of a partial embargo on arms exports to Israel, which provoked the fury of his own camp .
As for the CDU leader's popularity, it's not looking good either, recalls the headline in another article . "According to the latest survey by [public broadcaster] ARD, Merz's popularity rating is plummeting. Only 32% of Germans approve of his work, and 65% say they are dissatisfied with the Chancellor's actions, according to the Infratest Dimap institute."
"It's as if Merz has not yet really managed to find his feet in the chancellery - a finding confirmed by the polls," Christine Dankbar said in a commentary article .
Courrier International
