Support for Angela Merkel dips to 2002-low, says survey

Support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative alliance has slumped to its lowest since July 2002 as opposition over her liberal refugee policy grows, a survey showed on Sunday, while a right-wing populist party polled a record high.

According to the poll published by the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, public support for Ms Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and sister party Christian Social Union now stands at just 34 per cent, down two percentage points.

The Social Democratic Party — the junior partner in Ms Merkel’s left-right grand coalition, has also lost ground, shedding one percentage point to 24 per cent, according to the poll of 1,638 people conducted from January 21 to 27.

Meanwhile, the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which on Saturday sparked a storm by suggesting that the police should be allowed to shoot migrants to stop them from entering Germany, scored a record 12 per cent, gaining two percentage points on a similar poll.

On Saturday, its chairperson Frauke Petry said the border police “should be able... to have recourse to their firearms — as laid down by law”.

“No policeman wants to fire on a refugee and I don’t want that either. But as a last resort there should be recourse to firearms,” she said.