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Around two-thirds of Germans are unhappy with the work of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his fractious coalition, which has faced crisis after crisis since taking office in December, according to a survey published on Sunday.

Only 25 % of Germans believe the Social Democrat is doing his job well, down from 46% in March, according to the poll by Insa for “Bild am Sonntag” weekly newspaper.

By contrast, 62 % of Germans think Scholz – who was deputy chancellor under veteran conservative leader Angela Merkel in the previous ruling coalition – is doing his job badly, a record number, compared to just 39% in March.

Since taking power, Scholz has had to deal with the war in Ukraine, an energy crisis, soaring inflation and now drought – all pushing Europe’s largest economy to the brink of a recession. Critics have accused him of not showing sufficient leadership.

Support for his Social Democratic Party (SPD) stood at just 19%, the Insa survey showed, well behind the opposition conservatives and junior coalition partners the Greens, and below the 25.7% the SPD took in the federal election last year.

Around 65% of Germans are unhappy with the work of Germany’s three-way coalition government as a whole, compared with 43 % in March.

The poll comes after a particularly tough week for Scholz.

First, he got into hot water by failing to immediately contradict Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at a joint news conference in Berlin when he accused Israel of committing “50 Holocausts”.

Then on Friday opposition lawmakers in Hamburg accused him of obfuscating the truth at a hearing into a major tax scam that took place during his tenure as mayor of the northern port city – charges he denies, instead protesting memory lapses.

Copyright 2022 Thomson/Reuters