Ya Libnan

40% of Germans say Merkel should resign over refugee policy, poll

Share:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacts as she addresses a news conference after a meeting with state premiers at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, January 28, 2016. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacts as she addresses a news conference after a meeting with state premiers at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, January 28, 2016. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

Forty percent of Germans want Chancellor Angela Merkel to resign over her refugee policy, a poll showed on Friday, in a sign of rising dissatisfaction with her welcoming stance towards people fleeing conflict and economic hardship in the Middle East and Africa.

Merkel, who enjoyed record high popularity ratings early last year, has grown increasingly isolated in recent months as members of her conservative bloc have pressed her to take a tougher line on asylum seekers and European allies have dragged their feet on the issue.

Responding to popular pressure, Merkel’s conservatives and their left-leaning Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners agreed on Thursday to tighten asylum rules, reaching a compromise on how to stem the influx of migrants.

The Insa poll for Focus magazine surveyed 2,047 Germans between Jan. 22 to Jan. 25. It showed 45.2 percent believed Merkel’s refugee policy was not a reason for her to resign. It was the first time the pollster had asked voters whether Merkel should quit.

Another poll released on Friday, by the Elector Research Group, showed support for Merkel’s conservative bloc steady at 37 percent. As recently as September, they were on 42 percent. Support for the SPD was also unchanged, at 24 percent.

The poll put the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), which supports a hard line on immigration, on 11 percent.

The three ruling parties – Merkel’s Christian Democrats, their Bavarian allies, and the SPD – are eager to show voters that the government is in control of the refugee crisis before three state votes in March and a general election next year.

A dispute over tighter immigration rules has nonetheless been straining the ruling coalition.

Merkel has also faced criticism from other European Union countries for her stance on migration, including from Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi who she meets later on Friday.

 

REUTERS

Share:

Comments

10 responses to “40% of Germans say Merkel should resign over refugee policy, poll”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Which only shows how Fickle humans are, and how little they they think.

  2. Ramone Avatar
    Ramone

    I am appalled at the rabid anti-Muslim xenophobia that has engulfed much of Europe and even North America. At online news media sites, e.g. NYT, Guardian, CBC (Canada), the vast majority of comments following a story about anything Middle East, the current refugee exodus or Islam are negative. Not only that, but many of those, over 50% at least, are virulently anti-refugee/Muslim/Islam.

    This is a sad state of affairs and quite depressing. How do these bigoted idiots think this will end? The people they irrationally fear and despise are not going to disappear and they can’t fence Europe off from the rest of the world. The two options are…taking a deep breath and regaining a modicum of common sense and accepting the new arrivals as fellow human beings, or continuing down the present path, which leads to fascism and a very bleak future indeed.

    The media, especially the tabloid press, should stop playing on people’s base emotions and STOP the lies, exaggerations and half-truths about Muslim immigrants. Have they forgotten European history and what rampant nationalism and xenophobia has brought to that continent? Have these fools forgotten how to think? The Second World War only ended about 70 years ago and the Balkan wars ended about 15 years ago. This is where hate, resentment, fear and nationalism lead.

    I hope people come to their senses before it is too late.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      I suppose you can compare it to ‘the rabid anti-West’ xenophobia.
      It’s all shamful, isn’t it, in this ‘new age’.

    2. Matrix Avatar
      Matrix

      “STOP the lies, exaggerations and half-truths about Muslim immigrants.”

      (The Daily Star – Editorial Cartoons)

  3. Rudy1947 Avatar
    Rudy1947

    Merkel has come off this grandiose and humanitarian refugee policy and is now speaking of returning as many refugees as possible when the conflict ends. This is a wise choice.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      I would dare to say that if ‘Certain Others’ had been a little more “grandiose”, there would not have been a need for Germany to extend so much grandiosity for a concept of humanity which few have shown they have – even when they tout the generality themselves.
      Many ‘talk the talk’, and never dare to ‘walk the walk’. Closer to ‘home’ would be more comfortable than being in a northern snow-drift, for sure. Or a mountain refugee camp.

      1. Rudy1947 Avatar
        Rudy1947

        You have a grandiose vagueness. Am I supposed to determine your definitions of “other”, “mountain refugee camp”, “home”, etc.

        1. 5thDrawer Avatar
          5thDrawer

          You can apply the concept to any particular refugee and country as you wish. There’s a huge variety of each. Where ‘Humanity’, as a general concept, seems to be being applied with a similar vagueness, although it shouldn’t be, I tend to keep away from pegging anyone into a specific slot – assuming each of us could select as needed, for the sake of comparisons.

  4. Matrix Avatar
    Matrix

    The German Chancellor Angela Merkel expects many refugees remain only temporarily in Germany and return to the end of the war in their country back into the home.

    h t t p : / / w w w(DOT) n-tv(dot)de / 16896166

  5. 슬롯팡팡

    … [Trackback]

    […] Here you can find 30135 additional Information on that Topic: yalibnan.com/2016/01/30/40-of-germans-say-merkel-should-resign-over-refugee-policy-poll/ […]

Leave a Reply