Poll: Scholz would lose all three chancellor duels to Union candidates
In a direct election of the Federal Chancellor, incumbent Olaf Scholz (SPD) would lose to potential candidates from the Union, according to a survey by the polling institute Insa for "Bild am Sonntag". In three queried chancellor duels, 23 percent of respondents voted for Scholz each time. CDU leader Friedrich Merz would receive 35 percent, Bavarian Minister President Markus Söder 41 percent, and NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst 26 percent.
However, the direct election of the Chancellor by the citizens is a theoretical model. The head of government in Germany is elected by the members of the Bundestag.
In the voting preferences for the parties represented there, the Union remained unchanged in first place with 31 percent, ahead of the AfD with 18 percent. The SPD gained one point and came to 16 percent in the survey. The Greens remained at 10 percent, the FDP at 5 percent, the BSW at 9 percent, and the Left at 3 percent. Other parties would receive 8 percent (minus one point).
Insa surveyed 1203 eligible voters from August 5 to 9 for the weekend question. The maximum margin of error is given as plus/minus 2.9 percentage points. An additional 1004 citizens were surveyed on August 8 and 9 about the chancellor duels.
The results of the survey suggest that if a direct election for the Chancellor were to occur, potential Union candidates, such as CDU leader Friedrich Merz and Bavarian Minister President Markus Söder, would outperform incumbent Olaf Scholz, as indicated by The Commission's Insa survey. However, it's important to note that in reality, the German Chancellor is elected by the members of the Bundestag, not directly by the citizens.
