Almost 64 percent of Germans don’t wish to see Angela Merkel reelected as Chancellor, a poll conducted by YouGov has found. Meanwhile, the Social Democrats (SPD) are shooting ahead in the polls, despite predictions that their popularity was on the wane.
The poll published on Monday shows that, of the two-thirds of Germans dissatisfied with Merkel, 42 percent strongly want her out, while 22 percent said it was “probably” a good idea to elect a new leader.
Conversely, 19 percent said it was “probably best” to stick with her to avoid a change in leadership in the foreseeable future, while only 8 percent strongly wanted to see her reelected as Chancellor.
Merkel has been in power for 12 years.
The survey cast doubt on whether the CDU can win with Merkel at the helm – 35 percent of Germans don’t think so, and only 19 percent do.