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Laschet’s Approval at Low Ebb in Latest German Election Poll

Laschet’s Approval at Low Ebb in Latest German Election Poll

Germany’s September election remains up for grabs, with no two-party alliance showing a majority and the presumed successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel deeply unpopular.

The latest Insa poll showed approval for conservative leader Armin Laschet at 13%, according to Bild am Sonntag.

Combined backing for Merkel’s CDU and Bavaria’s CSU, its ally at the national level, held steady on the week at 27%. The Green Party at 18% and the SPD at 17% were also unchanged.

While the CDU-CSU is poised to win the most votes on Sept. 26, it’s likely to need at least one coalition partner to secure a governing majority.

Laschet’s support fell 2 points on the week and is down 7 points from two weeks ago.

Laschet’s Approval at Low Ebb in Latest German Election Poll

Recent floods that battered parts of the country have upended the election dynamic with less than two months to go. Laschet, 60, damaged his standing when he was caught laughing on camera in the midst of the catastrophe. He’s since made multiple apologies.

Social Democrat candidate Olaf Scholz, Germany’s finance minister, has benefited, adding another point this week to 22%. Support for Green candidate Annalena Baerbock fell by one point to 13%, and has fallen by half since May 2, the poll showed.

Merkel, 67, the only chancellor many young Germans have known, isn’t running for a fifth term after 16 years in office.

Since the floods, which killed more than 160 people, the CDU/CSU’s lead over the Greens has narrowed. Merkel’s cabinet has approved a 400 million-euro ($470 million) aid package to provide immediate help for people in affected areas.

At the same time, Germany’s second-quarter GDP figures released on Friday showed a lackluster recovery in Europe’s largest economy. Output expanded by 1.5%, below the median estimate of 2% in a Bloomberg News survey and lower than the Euro region as a whole.

Insa surveyed 1,196 people July 26-30 on the question of which party they would vote for if the general election were held on Sunday.

An additional 1,001 were polled July 30 on the direct question of who they would pick between Laschet, Scholz and Baerbock if they could vote directly for chancellor.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.