Survey: Dissatisfaction with the new federal government prevails

Created: 2022-01-21Updated: 2022-01-21 05:12

The work of the new Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz is not viewed positively by many.

© Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters/Pool/dpa

Talking about everything in peace: During its first retreat, the new government will deal with the G7 presidency and the acceleration of future investments.

Not everyone liked the traffic light start.

Berlin - A good six weeks after the start of the new federal government of the SPD, Greens and FDP, dissatisfaction with their work predominates among the population.

In a survey by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the German Press Agency, 45 percent were rather dissatisfied or even very dissatisfied, with only 37 percent being satisfied.

17 percent did not provide any information.

On Friday, the cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will meet for its first retreat, which will deal with the German presidency of the G7 group of leading democratic economic powers and the acceleration of future investments.

The head of government and his 16 ministers were sworn in in the Bundestag on December 8th.

The first few weeks were dominated by the crises: in terms of foreign policy, efforts to de-escalate the Ukraine conflict determined the work of the government, and domestically the fight against the corona pandemic.

On the latter topic, the planned compulsory vaccination is currently the biggest construction site, but the government has handed over the preparation and decision to parliament.

Lindner comes off the best

According to a YouGov survey, the prevailing dissatisfaction with the government's work affects all three main actors in the coalition almost equally: Chancellor Scholz, Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck from the Greens and Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner.

- 47 percent are rather dissatisfied and 33 percent rather satisfied with Scholz.

- 43 percent rate Habeck's work rather negatively and 30 percent rather positively.

- Dissatisfaction also prevails with Lindner, but he still comes off best compared to his two cabinet colleagues: 40 percent are rather dissatisfied, 32 percent rather satisfied with his work.

A week ago, Scholz's work was rated very positively in the ZDF "Politbarometer".

65 percent of those surveyed said that Scholz was doing his job "rather well" as Chancellor.

On the other hand, 17 percent of those surveyed found that the new chancellor was doing his job “rather poorly”.

G7 priorities: climate protection and combating pandemics

The new government has taken up the cause of the slogans “departure” and “progress”.

However, major decisions are not to be expected at the first closed meeting.

The G7 presidency is about preparing for the numerous ministerial meetings that are to be expected up to the summit from 26 to 28 June 2022 at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps - and of course the summit itself as the high point of the presidency.

The focus will be on climate protection, fighting pandemics and strengthening international cooperation and democracies worldwide.

Project planning: "It just takes too long"

The second focus of the exam is planning acceleration.

The construction industry, for example, calls for fundamental reforms so that infrastructure projects can be implemented more quickly.

"It just takes too long," said Tim-Oliver Müller, general manager of the main association of the German construction industry, the German press agency.

"Despite the previous approaches to speed up planning, approval times for new construction and expansion projects must be significantly reduced."

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The "thick boards" should also be on the agenda, such as an efficient dovetailing of spatial planning and plan approval as well as the introduction of a deadline regulation, according to Müller.

"Instead of exceeding EU requirements, we should work with standardization and the latest scientific findings, for example in species protection." dpa