Thursday 26 / December / 2024
Berlin: Forty per cent 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 January 22 to January 25. It showed 45.2 per cent 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 per cent. As recently as September, they were on 42 per cent. Support for the SPD was also unchanged, at 24 per cent.
The poll put the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), which supports a hard line on immigration, on 11 per cent.
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.
Meanwhile, Germany's population likely increased by its largest amount in over two decades last year as an influx of migrants more than compensated for a rise in deaths, the Federal Statistics Office said on Friday.
The office estimated that the population climbed to 81.9 million in 2015, up from 81.2 million the year before. It was the biggest year-on-year rise since 1992.
In a breakdown of the numbers, the office said that at least 900,000 more people came to Germany last year than left. That more than offset the so-called "birth deficit" -- the difference between the number of births and deaths, which was estimated at between 190,000 and 215,000.
This deficit was driven by a strong rise in deaths to between 905,000 and 930,000, compared to 868,000 in 2014. Births were estimated to have totalled between 705,000 and 730,000 last year.
