Merkel’s bloc sinks amid calls for health minister’s removal

Bloomberg

Support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc slumped to its lowest in a year as discontent over the government’s handling of the vaccination rollout mounts and some opposition leaders called for her to fire the health minister.
The stuttering pace of inoculation, irritation with months of lockdown restrictions and a scandal over allegations that some conservative lawmakers profited from the pandemic have eroded the CDU/CSU group’s backing, a Forsa opinion poll showed Wednesday. It followed the bloc’s poor showing in two regional votes and suggests that it is losing steam ahead of September’s national election while the Greens gain momentum.
After climbing as high as 40% last spring, backing for the CDU/CSU dropped by four percentage points compared with the previous week to 29%, the lowest since last March, according to the poll for broadcaster RTL.
The Greens gained three points to 21% in second place, the highest since late November. The Social Democrats, the junior partners in Merkel’s government, remained at 16% in third.
The bad news for Merkel’s bloc comes as pressure on her to deal with Germany’s missteps in handling the pandemic mounts. Opposition leaders on Wednesday slammed Health Minister Jens Spahn for his decision to suspend use of AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine amid concerns over its safety.
There was more evidence of the pandemic’s impact on Europe’s biggest economy Wednesday, as Merkel’s panel of advisers predicted weaker growth this year and warned the recovery could be jeopardized by a renewed spike in infections.
German output will expand by 3.1% in 2021, the panel predicted, trimming a forecast of 3.7% published in November. Next year, they expect growth to accelerate to 4%, underpinned by a pickup in consumer spending and strong demand for German exports, but warned that a “third wave” of infections is a significant threat.

Read more: Europe’s Latest Vaccine Controversy May Be a Crisis Too Far

Wolfgang Kubicki, deputy leader of the liberal FDP party, said replacing Spahn “would help to renew the population’s trust in the state” even if there are only a few months left until the election.

Spahn had been too late with the adoption of face masks and the government’s testing and vaccination strategy also failed, he told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, adding that the minister “is not up to the job.”