Merkel's Approval Rating Falls 10 Points to 59% Ahead of Parliamentary Election

The approval rating for German Chancellor, and leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) alliance Angela Merkel dropped by 10 points from July’s figures, amounting to 59 percent six weeks ahead of the parliamentary election, a fresh poll showed Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The poll carried out by Infratest dimap institute for ARD broadcaster and Die Welt newspaper showed that the number of respondents who were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with Merkel's activities decreased since July, when the chancellor held 69 percent of the public's support.

Meanwhile, the popularity of the German government decreased by 7 points to 45 percent, and the number of those discontent with government policies rose by 6 points to 15 percent.

The popularity of Merkel’s main opponent at the upcoming election, Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Martin Schulz, also decreased in August, falling by 4 percent in one month to 33 percent.

The survey demonstrated that despite her high approval rating, Merkel is third in terms of popularity among German politicians. German Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schaeuble is leading with 64 percent, followed by Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel with 63 percent.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere came in forth with 50 percent, while the CSU leader Horst Seehofer closed the top five with 40 percent.

Christian Lindner, the leader of Germany's liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), has an approval rating of 39 percent. Schulz follows the FDP leader with 30 percent.

The CDU/CSU alliance is still the most popular parliamentary power, securing the support of 39 percent of those surveyed. SPD’s rating rose by 1 percent to 24 percent in August, while FDP and Alternative for Germany (AfD) each stand to get 8 percent of the potential vote. The Left party is supported by 9 percent of respondents.

Germany’s federal elections are scheduled for September 24.