Popular Support for the German Government at an All-Time Low

A survey of the Federation of Civil Servants (Deutscher Beamtenbund), published on Sept. 1, found that only 29% of the respondents believe the German government is capable of handling the situation, against 66% who hold the opposite opinion.

The National Association of SMEs (DMB) comes to an even more drastic conclusion based on responses from its members. DMB president Marc S. Tenbieg told the Berliner Zeitung (Sept 2) that following on the high energy and electricity prices, the outlook for the next six months “is described as very dark by many firms, so that 10% of the firms surveyed by the DMB are already plagued with existential fears”. In a quick poll, the DMB found that 95% of the firms accuse the government of not supporting the Mittelstand enough or not at all, with 73% saying they have been hard or very hard hit by energy prices. For 32%, the business prospects for the next six months are “bad”.

On this backdrop, the remarks by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (of the Green Party) in Prague, Aug. 31, strongly confirm the impression that the government does not care about the German citizens. The Minister stated outright that “I will fulfill my promises [to Ukraine] no matter what my German constituents think.” The fact that she added that “the government is aware of its social responsibilities” did nothing to reassure a highly dissatisfied population.

A third front of opposition against the government is building among the farmers, who are up in arms over the soaring costs of production, in addition to the forced cuts deliberately decreed by the EU’s insane “Farm to Fork” policy. Protests in the form of tractorcades were resumed on Aug. 31 in numerous German cities, and other actions are planned.

This is the stuff from which no-confidence votes are made. Whether that will occur in the Bundestag is uncertain at this point, although there are many indications of ongoing backroom talks among leaders of the various political parties. If SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in fact ousted, one of the likely options for replacement would be a new government coalition among the Christian Democrats, Greens and the Free Democrats. However, it looks like nothing will be decided before the Oct. 9 state elections in Lower Saxony. If SPD Minister President Stefan Weil is defeated, pressure on Scholz to step down will increase.

Internationally, the ascent of geopolitical hardliner and Russophobe Liz Truss to the post of British Prime Minister could accelerate the push for a government change in Berlin. CDU leader Friedrich Merz is a hardliner on Ukraine, who accuses Scholz of pussy-footing on supplying heavy weapons to Kiev. A Merz-led government in Berlin could be expected to drag Germany even deeper into the quagmire of a war buildup against Russia.