ARD Germany trend: Union loses, Habeck suddenly becomes the most popular candidate for chancellor
9:23 p.m.: If there were a federal election on Sunday, the SPD would currently get 15 percent (+1 compared to mid-December). The Union would be at 31 percent (-2) and would therefore be the strongest force. The Greens remain unchanged at 14 percent. The FDP currently has 4 percent and is therefore just below the mandate threshold. The AfD improved slightly to 20 percent (+1) and would therefore be the second strongest force. The Left improved slightly to 4 percent, but would still be below the five percent threshold. The Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) still achieved 5 percent. All other parties currently account for 7 percent (-2). This was the result of a representative survey by infratest dimap among 1,323 eligible voters for the ARD Germany trend from Monday to Wednesday of this week.
- CDU/CSU 31 percent
- AfD 20 percent
- SPD 15 percent
- Greens 14 percent
- BSW 5 percent
- FDP 4 percent
- Linke 4 percent
- Other 7 percent
The majority of the parties’ top personnel are rated negatively. 28 percent are currently very satisfied or satisfied with the work of the Green Party candidate for Chancellor Robert Habeck (-1 compared to the beginning of December); Almost two thirds (65 percent) are dissatisfied with him. On this issue, Habeck is slightly ahead of the Union candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz, who loses 5 percentage points within a month and has a satisfaction rating of 25 percent; Almost two thirds (64 percent) are also dissatisfied with him. 21 percent are satisfied with the BSW top candidate Sahra Wagenknecht (+1); two thirds (68 percent) are dissatisfied with it. 21 percent of those eligible to vote are also satisfied with the FDP’s top candidate Christian Lindner (+1); Almost three quarters (73 percent) are dissatisfied with their work. One in five (20 percent) is satisfied with the work of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) (-3); 77 percent are less or not at all satisfied with it. One in five (20 percent) is also satisfied with the AfD candidate Alice Weidel (-1); 65 percent are dissatisfied with it.
Lindner: “Next time please just something from the baker or pastry chef”
4:15 p.m.: After the foam was thrown at Christian Lindner, the FDP leader downplayed the incident. “If the FDP is attacked from the left, then it is obviously a center party. People on the left of center don’t want to hear the message of freedom, economic change and orderly migration, but I won’t allow myself to be intimidated. Next time please just something from the baker or confectioner,” Lindner joked in an “interview” with “Bild”.
The thrower is the left-wing local politician Christiane Kiesow from Greifswald. This was confirmed by Left Party leader Hennis Herbst in response to a dpa request, who had previously clearly distanced himself from his party colleague’s actions. Kiesow is a member of the Peene-Uecker-Ryck district board, which also includes the city of Greifswald
A police spokesman said a complaint has been filed against the 34-year-old on suspicion of bodily harm and insults. Officers on site identified the woman’s personal details immediately after the attack, but did not take her into custody. The police did not provide any further information about the person. The criminal police are conducting further investigations. Because it was obviously a politically motivated act, state security was also called in, it was said.
Merz: Foam throwing is a foretaste of what could come
4 p.m.: Union Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz (CDU) has condemned the foam throwing at former Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). “This gives a foretaste of what we might experience here in this election campaign,” said the CDU chairman at an event organized by the Hamburg Business Journalists Club (CHW). Thank God it didn’t happen again. But the willingness to engage in violent political conflict appears to be increasing among parts of the population. “I hope we are spared this.”
Woman throws foam cake in Lindner’s face during his speech at the start of the election campaign
12:58 p.m.: A young woman threw a foam-like substance at FDP leader Christian Lindner during an election campaign appearance in Greifswald. She hit the former finance minister directly in the face. A local FDP spokeswoman and eyewitness said it was a pseudo-cake made from shaving cream. The woman is a young politician on the left.
Lindner tried the foam and continued his speech. “Unfortunately it wasn’t cream, just soap,” he said. “At least they could have done that better, then I would have benefited from it too,” Lindner continued as he wiped his face with a napkin.
The ex-finance minister spoke to several people in a small hall at the constituency event in Greifswald. The attacker was brought straight to the ground by his security guards, as can be seen in a dpa video. Previously she had said “Dear Mr. Lindner” and then thrown the foam in his face. Lindner himself smeared some of the foam back into the woman’s hair.
CSU boss Söder against TaurusDelivery to Ukraine
11:42 a.m.: Markus Söder speaks out against a possible delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. This is reported by “Table Media”. So he doubts CSU boss that people in Germany will be convinced by the arguments for a delivery. In addition, according to Söder, a majority of the population continues to speak out against delivery.
A possible reason for Söder’s statements is that the CDU leader wanted to send a signal to the possible future coalition partner SPD. The current Chancellor’s party continues to reject a Taurus delivery.
Söder on the dispute over black-green: Günther’s statements are “irrelevant”
11:03 a.m.: CSU boss Markus Söder described the criticism from Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) as “irrelevant”. In an interview with ntv/RTL on the sidelines of the CSU retreat in Bad Seeon, Söder said that the federal election campaign must now be conducted and Don’t bother with side debates about “small federal states”.
-Günther had criticized Söder on the ZDF talk show Markus Lanz for leading a sham debate against a black-green coalition. Günther called on Söder to “simply keep his mouth shut and say: ‘We are fighting for a strong CDU and a strong CSU’. I’m also patronizing – they can also get a good result.” Söder, however, emphasized again to ntv/RTL that they “under no circumstances” want to form a coalition with the Greens.
Scholz describes Merz’s move on citizenship as “regression”
10:47 a.m.: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has rejected the CDU/CSU candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz’s proposal for a reform of nationality law as “wrong”. He was “very sad” about the CDU leader’s proposal because it meant “a step backwards where great progress has actually just been achieved in Germany,” said Scholz in Ludwigsfelde near Berlin, with a view to the traffic light government’s reform of citizenship law from the SPD, Greens and FDP.
Scholz pointed out that modern citizenship law would help address the shortage of skilled workers in Germany. “We need the opportunity to have great people from other countries get involved in Germany in the future,” said Scholz during a visit to his constituency. Merz said in an interview with “Welt am Sonntag” that the dual citizenship decided by the traffic light should not be the norm, but should be limited to justified exceptional cases in the future.
Merz: Two, three or five percent defense spending is basically irrelevant
9:00 a.m.: Regarding US President-elect Trump’s demands that NATO states should spend five percent of GDP on defense, Merz said in an interview with “Bayerischer Rundfunk”: “I say about this demand that we first of all use two percent as the lower limit really have to reach Germany. We’re not there yet. We only achieve it formally because this so-called special fund is used for this purpose. […] And the two, the three or the five percent are basically irrelevant, what matters is that we do what is necessary to defend ourselves.”
It’s about expanding the Bundeswehr and restoring national and alliance defense, said Merz: “We have to make a joint effort here in the next few years and the benchmarks are what proportion of an economy’s gross domestic product is allocated to defense. just calculation quantities.”
With a view to Austria, where FPÖ leader Kickl was tasked with forming a government, Merz said: “If you look at the history of the FPÖ in Austria, the main lesson I draw from it is that right-wing populists should not be allowed to participate in the government Assumption and hope that they will discipline themselves in government, behave sensibly and find their way back to the center.” On the question of whether this means, applied to Germany, that after the federal election, coalition negotiations will be held with all centrist parties, Merz said: “I say, it depends on the content. The solution to the problems. We are not running a federal election campaign as a coalition election campaign.”
AfD makes significant gains in survey, SPD falls
8:20 a.m.: The AfD should be happy about a new election survey by the opinion research institute YouGov. It increases by two percent and ends up at 21 percent. The best value since January 2024. If there were a federal election next Sunday, the Union would still be the strongest force, according to YouGov, with 29 percent. That is one percentage point less than in December. The CDU/CSU are trading at their lowest level since June 2024. However, the loser in the survey is the SPD with 16 percent; it has lost a whopping two percent compared to the previous month and is therefore three percentage points ahead of the Greens, who in turn also lose one point and now stand at 13 percent.
Among the smaller parties, the BSW came in with 6 percent (in December 2024: 7 percent) ahead of the FDP with 5 percent (in December 2024: 4 percent). At 3 percent, the Left is still well below the five percent hurdle (no change from December 2024). Around 6 percent would vote for another party (no change from December 2024).
For the Yougov survey, a total of 2,246 eligible voters were interviewed in an online panel from January 3rd to 6th, and 1,908 people also provided information about their intention to vote.
You can read more about the federal election on the next page.
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