According to Tagesschau, only 13 percent of people in Germany are still satisfied with the federal government. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is also becoming increasingly unpopular, according to a recent poll. The figures raise the question of why trust in politics is evaporating so quickly – and whether it can be regained at all.
Merz himself struck a different tone during the election campaign. At an event in Munich’s Löwenbräukeller shortly before the federal election, he proclaimed: “Left is over” and promised to once again govern for the majority of people – for those “who can think straight” and “not for any green and left-wing crackpots.” The hall cheered him for it. Today, a year after taking office, the mood has soured.
Communication errors and broken promises
In Caren Miosga’s talk show, Merz recently took stock and spoke about compromises. “What I sometimes miss is the fundamental willingness to acknowledge that our democracy is built on compromise,” the chancellor said. But this very balancing act between campaign rhetoric and the realities of governing seems hard for many citizens to swallow. Merz himself has since admitted to communication errors – for instance, his appearance at the Catholic Congress, which was met with protests.
Claudia Roth (Alliance 90/The Greens), the longest-serving member of the Bundestag and former Minister of State for Culture, sees the cause as deeper. “Trust requires credible politics,” she told Tagesschau. People do not forget when much is promised during the election campaign – “and the day after the election, none of that applies anymore.” What she misses most is respect. The previous government, the traffic-light coalition, is not blameless either: “The communication on the heating law was a mistake by Robert Habeck.” Admitting that is not a sign of weakness, but is understood by people.
Counterpoint: Is the loss of trust self-inflicted?
An alternative reading is that the loss of trust has less to do with individual mistakes than with a structural problem: politicians of all parties tend to raise excessive expectations during election campaigns that they cannot later fulfill. Roth herself recalls her time as Green Party leader, when she was under pressure to always have an opinion immediately. “Where I didn’t just blurt out something,” she said. Sometimes she replied: “I don’t know the answer.” Such honesty is rare, but valuable.
The question remains whether Merz can still turn things around. The poll numbers suggest that citizens miss not only concrete results but also an authentic style. The chancellor faces the challenge of reconciling his uncompromising campaign rhetoric with the constraints of a coalition – and thereby regaining the trust he has squandered within a year.
Source: Tagesschau
