Just one in 10 Germans thinks Merz is up to the job after election wipeout

Stuttgart, Germany – Minutes after the results of the first exit polls flashed across German screens, Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) declared in a televised statement at the party’s headquarters that he was going nowhere.“It’s a disaster,” he said of the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on September 20. “What needs to be done now requires backbone, steadfastness and patience. I will muster them – as party chairman of the CDU and, above all, as chancellor of our country.”Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Why the world should care about the far right’s rise in Germanylist 2 of 4The leftist leader with Turkish roots who could become Berlin’s next mayorlist 3 of 4‘Hope’ rises in Berlin immigrant communities as Left wins amid AfD gainslist 4 of 4German, Russian foreign ministers hold rare talks amid rising tensionsend of listBut pressure on Merz is mounting.On Thursday, a survey by Germany’s public broadcaster ARD found that only one in 10 respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with his work. That is the lowest figure for any chancellor since the survey began in 1997.His party crashed out of the state parl...