Poll: Merkel better suited than Merz to tackle Germany's problems

Nearly half of Germans believe former chancellor Angela Merkel would be better equipped than incumbent Friedrich Merz to tackle the country's current problems, according to a YouGov poll commissioned by dpa.

Some 48% backed Merkel in the comparison, while 29% said the two Christian Democrats (CDU) would be equally capable of dealing with Germany's challenges. Just 8% rated Merkel less favourably than Merz, while 15% did not answer or said they did not know.

The findings come as Merz struggles with dismal approval ratings and his coalition government struggles to reach agreement on a range of contentious issues, including reforms to long-term care, pensions and taxation.

Merkel governed Germany for 16 years from 2005 to 2021, spending most of that period at the head of coalition governments with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), who are also Merz's current coalition partners.

YouGov surveyed 2,072 adults on Friday, asking whether they believed Merkel, as chancellor, would be better, worse or equally suited to tackling Germany's current problems and challenges compared with Merz.

The results were weighted to be representative of Germany's adult population. The poll has a margin of error of up to 2.15 percentage points.