Majority see Scholz as not up to the task
Following the ruling from Karlsruhe, the traffic light coalition has plunged into a deep budget crisis. Citizens have little confidence that the SPD, Greens and FDP will find a way out. Nevertheless, the proportion of those who reject new elections is predominant.
In view of the budget crisis triggered by the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court, a majority of Germans consider Chancellor Olaf Scholz to be out of his depth. In the RTL/ntv trend barometer, two out of three respondents (66%) say that the SPD politician is not up to the task. Only just under one in four (24%) consider the 65-year-old to be sufficiently competent. Economics Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens and Finance Minister Christian Linder of the FDP were also denied the necessary competence by a majority of more than 60 percent each.
Unsurprisingly, the chancellor receives the most support from SPD supporters. Here, support was at 79 percent. Meanwhile, party leader Lindner was able to rally 91% of FDP sympathizers behind him.
No majority for new elections
Overall, 69% of respondents do not trust the coalition with the traffic light system to solve the crisis. Even the majority of FDP supporters (52%) do not believe that the governing alliance will find a solution. By contrast, SPD and Green voters are much more optimistic, with 62% and 57% respectively believing that the traffic light coalition will find a solution.
Despite the crisis and the uncertain prospect of a solution so far, 48% of respondents voted for a continuation of the coalition between the SPD, Greens and FDP. In contrast, 46%, and therefore slightly fewer, are in favor of new elections. In the East, however, 53% want citizens to be called to the polls.
Nevertheless, a large majority across all party camps believe that the budget crisis will weaken cohesion within the coalition. The greatest optimists are close to the SPD, where one in three (33%) do not believe that there will be any negative consequences.
FDP and CDU/CSU supporters want to cut social benefits
Following the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court, the federal government will be 60 billion euros short over the next four years. If savings had to be made in other areas of the budget against this backdrop, Germans are most likely to be in favor of cuts in spending on development aid (55%). However, out of a total budget of just under 445.7 billion euros for this year, only a good 11.5 billion, or just over 2.6 percent, is allocated to Svenja Schulze's department.
Slightly less than a third are of the opinion that savings should be made above all in the areas of social spending (32%), the German armed forces (30%) and climate protection spending (29%). Only one in ten (10%) are in favor of cuts in infrastructure and transport.
In terms of party preferences, a majority of both FDP and CDU/CSU supporters want to cut social spending. However, both party camps, as well as SPD and AfD sympathizers, would put development policy at the top of the list for cuts. The majority of Green supporters (48 percent) would cut spending on the Bundeswehr.
Forsa surveyed 1010 people for the RTL/ntv trend barometer on November 22. The statistical margin of error is +/- 3 points.
In response to the budget crisis caused by the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling, the majority of Germans believe that the SPD, Greens, and FDP are not competent enough to find a solution. According to the RTL/ntv trend barometer, 66% of respondents believe that Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Economics Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens, and Finance Minister Christian Linder of the FDP are not up to the task. This sentiment is shared by supporters of the CDU/CSU and AfD, who, along with FDP supporters, also favor cuts in social spending to address the budget shortfall.
Source: www.ntv.de
