Nearly half of Germans expect Chancellor Merz to be replaced by end of year

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attends a joint press conference at the Federal Chancellery.

The election in Saxony-Anhalt – where the AfD soared to almost 44% of the vote, while Merz’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) collapsed to 17% – prompted serious speculation whether the chancellor might be forced to step down.

The survey found 48% of the 1,611 adults surveyed expect Merz will no longer be chancellor by the end of the year, while 31% expect him to remain in office and 21% gave no answer.