Chancellor Angela Merkel’s health is no one’s business but her own, according to a majority of German voters.
After the 64-year-old was seen trembling during a public appearance earlier this week — the third incident in the past three weeks — over 59 percent of respondents to a survey published Saturday by Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper agreed Merkel’s medical condition was “clearly [or] largely a private matter” of the chancellor.
Less than 34 percent of respondents said Merkel should open up more about her health.
The veteran chancellor, who has been in office for almost 14 years, has no known history of serious health issues. But her recent bouts of shaking, which Merkel experienced while standing through ceremonies and which were broadcast around the world, have raised concerns in Europe’s largest economy about the chancellor’s wellbeing.
Merkel has said that she has consulted doctors and “is doing well” but has given no further details, prompting a discussion in the privacy-savvy country about whether the public has a right to know details of the health of its head of state.
The majority of German voters supports Merkel being reserved about providing details of her wellbeing, the new survey suggests — with one outlier: Among voters for the populist far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), more than 65 percent of respondents demanded that she provide more details about her health status.