Frictions on numerous issues between the two coalition partners in the national government, the CDU and SPD, have intensified and paralyzed the government to such an extent that its survival into the second half of this term is dubious. CDU Chancellor Friedrich Merz got a heavy dose of discontent at the national convention of the DGB labor federation, where his speech was booed and disrupted. The bad ratings of the government among the labor movement affect the SPD in particular, which has lost many traditional votes from labor’s migrating to the AfD, that the SPD’s national rating is down to 14%. Labor Minister Bärbel Bas shocked the public on May 12, with the gloomy forecast that early elections may have to be held at the beginning of 2027.
The present government has been in power for one year, formed after early elections at the end of February 2025.