Poll: Nearly every second German is opposed to a fourth term for Merkel

Nearly half of Germans surveyed in a new poll oppose Chancellor Angela Merkel remaining in office for a fourth term after an election next year – a sign that her handling of the ongoing migrant crisis is still weighing on her popularity.Conducted by pollster Insa for German magazine Cicero, the survey showed yesterday that some 48% did not support the statement: “I’m in favour of Angela Merkel remaining chancellor also after the federal election in 2017.”Around 27% said they wanted the conservative Christian Democratic leader to stay in office for a fourth term while roughly 25% said they did not have an opinion on the matter or did not give a reply.Leaving out those undecided and indifferent, nearly two-thirds of respondents with a clear opinion were against Merkel staying in office, Cicero said.“This shows that Germans are getting increasingly tired of Merkel with her being in power for 11 years now,” Cicero editor-in-chief Christoph Schwennicke told Reuters, adding that her handling of the migrant crisis was also an important factor. “Her solo run in the refugee crisis last summer was a mistake, both on the national as well as the European level.”Merkel decided to keep Germany’s borders open for hundreds of thousands of refugees from war-torn countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.The number of migrants entering Germany reached peaks of more than 10,000 a day last autumn, but has diminished significantly this year due to the closing of Greece’s border with Macedonia and a European Union deal with Turkey that has discouraged refugees from crossing the Aegean Sea to the EU.