Why Friedrich Merz cannot fully celebrate his first 100 days as German chancellor

The international agenda has hardly given German Chancellor Friedrich Merz a breather this summer. Almost every day, Germany's position has to be coordinated with its European partners - such as on Russia's war on Ukraine or Israel's against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Most recently, Friedrich Merz was even heavily criticised within his own ranks. Apparently, the Chancellor had not discussed the decision to suspend the export of weapons that Israel could use in the war in Gaza with his sister party, the CSU. The majority of people in Germany are in favour of limiting arms exports to Israel, which the SPD had also spoken out in favour of, but the single-handed decision caused displeasure.

The Left and the Greens criticised Merz's partial ban on arms exports as being "too little, too late" - in view of the suffering of the people in the Gaza Strip.

Now - days after the decision - Friedrich Merz wants to justify it in a TV interview on public broadcaster ARD's Tagesschau programme.

Following fierce criticism from some conservative members of parliament, Merz's foreign policy adviser Günter Sautter was also due to hold a video call with CDU and CSU foreign policy experts this Sunday in order to calm the waters. Friedrich Merz is not only Federal Chancellor, but has also been Chairman of the CDU since 2022.

Only 28 % satisfied with the government in recent poll

The polls do not look good for the black-red coalition. According to the ARD Deutschlandtrend , 69 per cent of respondents in Germany are dissatisfied with the work of the federal government. Only 28 per cent are satisfied in the Infratest-Dimap survey.

This is hardly surprising to seasoned pundits: a majority of Germans (61%) do not consider the new chancellor's communication style to be convincing, with only 34% viewing it positively. In addition, only 26% cent of respondents believe that Merz is someone who can be trusted.

The summer break in Berlin had already officially begun when the federal government launched more than 20 bills at its meeting on 6 August: from the pension package to new regulations on small savings, on gas prices and on the Germany Ticket for rail and other public transport.

Not focussing enough on people's concerns?

The coalition dispute over the appointment of new judges to the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe has stirred up the political scene in Berlin. The failure of CDU parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn to keep his own ranks together raised doubts about his suitability for the post. According to reports, the criticism of the SPD's proposed judge Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf was also orchestrated by right-wing populist circles on social media.

Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer now wants to ban gendering (i.e. asterisks or other special characters for female persons) not only in his ministry, but also in public broadcasting. This has not only been criticised by the media; many in Germany consider the policy of paternalism to be a concept of the past.

In times of Donald Trump's punitive tariffs, people are worried about the economy in Germany and their personal financial situation. The positive effects of the announced massive investments in infrastructure and digitalisation have yet to materialise. It's not only the construction work at Deutsche Bahn that is taking years, seems to be the general impression.