by Gregor Spitzen
[REGNUM] German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is, in many ways, a stereotypical product of German parliamentary democracy. A dull and uncharismatic politician with no notable episodes in his biography, he rose to the helm of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) primarily through behind-the-scenes deals within the German and international elites.
Merz has no relevant experience in public administration, but he does have experience working at BlackRock, which manages approximately 10% of all global financial assets.
His personal popularity was low even before taking office as chancellor: for example, in February 2025, according to polls, he had the support of no more than 33% of voters as a potential head of government. This was despite Merz being the leader of the main opposition political force, amid the obvious failures of the "traffic light coalition" of his unpopular predecessor, Olaf Scholz.
How could a boring financier, with such results, ever occupy the most important post in the state?
Some clarification of German political realities, which are far from obvious to the outside observer, is required here.
The fact is that since 1945, the ruling political class has been allergic to flamboyant, charismatic figures with dictatorial tendencies who can lead the masses. Therefore, in modern democratic Germany, people vote not for politicians or in referendums (that would be too dangerous), but for political parties that nominate the "most worthy" candidates for the highest government positions from their ranks.
Unfortunately, those who rise to the top of political life from the depths of Germany's systemic parties rarely turn out to be qualified specialists with anything more than experience in bureaucratic struggles and the incoherent work of a Bundestag member.
However, even relevant experience in public service does not guarantee that a politician will become a strong chancellor, as we ourselves have seen from the example of Scholz, the former Lord Mayor of Hamburg and Minister of Finance in Angela Merkel’s government.
Another fact that is important for understanding German parliamentary democracy: the need to form a government coalition greatly helps German politicians to diffuse responsibility for policy failures and avoid fulfilling election promises.
They said that fulfilling our election promises was impossible because it ran counter to the interests of our coalition partners, and without their help, we wouldn't have been able to form a viable government. This, of course, was far more important for the country and democracy than fulfilling election promises.
Thus, politicians in Germany are not punished for lying during election campaigns. There is also no procedure for revoking the mandates of elected officials for failing to justify the trust of voters.
Incidentally, Merz himself ran for the Bundestag elections actively advocating for budgetary discipline and mercilessly criticizing his predecessors from the "traffic light coalition" for their intention to raise the national debt threshold by €60 billion.
Just a week and a half after taking office as Federal Chancellor, he already announced that the situation had changed, and that now, in light of new geopolitical challenges, Germany must spend approximately €800 billion on rearming the army and upgrading its infrastructure, which would require dipping into the pockets of future generations of Germans.
With such a background of broken promises, and considering that the German economy continues to rapidly deteriorate, it is hardly surprising that Chancellor Merz's popularity ratings have plummeted.
Even among supporters of the CDU/CSU and SPD in Germany, there is widespread dissatisfaction with his government.
And when it comes to pension policy, most Germans want changes to the system.
This is the lowest point in the polls for the federal government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz since the black-red coalition came to power: in the December Deutschlandtrend rating, only a fifth of citizens give the government a positive rating.
Only 1% said they were "very satisfied" and 19% said they were "satisfied" with the government's performance. Conversely, 78% were "dissatisfied" or "not at all satisfied."
In October, the number of satisfied people already stood at 20%, which is the lowest figure since coming to power.
The survey also shows that the majority of supporters of the red-black coalition are also dissatisfied with his work: 53% of CDU/CSU supporters and 74% of SPD supporters express dissatisfaction.
In the opposition camp, discontent is even more pronounced.
But while the Chancellor can dismiss the 97% dissatisfaction of the Alternative for Germany supporters as a sign of the political force's "unwillingness to shake hands," other data should give the Chancellor pause: within his own government, he is far less popular than most of the ministers in his cabinet.
While 23% of those surveyed in December said they were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the Chancellor's performance, 74% said the opposite.
At the same time, Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) received 26% approval, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) – 28%, Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) – 30%, and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) – 33%.
Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) remains the only top politician to receive the approval of a majority of Germans, with 58%.
Following the failure of the "traffic light coalition" and the early Bundestag elections, many Germans hoped for a turning point in the country's political life. However, after just a few months in power, the new ruling coalition has completely lost the trust of the public.
After six months in office, Merz has already achieved what took Scholz two and a half years.
Considering that the forecast for the German economy has been unfavorable for the fourth year in a row, and the news feed continues to be filled with news of the closure of Germany's flagship industrial plants, it seems that the Federal Chancellor's 23% personal rating is far from the limit of negative values.