If all goes to plan, Friedrich Merz will become the Federal Republic's 10th chancellor on May 6. The two remaining hurdles appear to be formalities: On Monday, his conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) will convene for a special party conference to approve the coalition contract with the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). Then, a few days later, the SPD's members — some grumbling notwithstanding — are expected to approve the alliance in a vote, with the results announced on April 30.

But Merz won't have long to enjoy the congratulations. Even though he won the national election in late February, the 69-year-old's personal popularity seems to be on a permanent slide: According to an April poll by research institute Forsa for Stern magazine, just 21% of respondents consider Merz trustworthy — nine percentage points lower than in August, and down three points from January.

The same poll found that only 40% of respondents consider the incoming chancellor a strong leader, and 27% think Merz "knows what moves people," both of which represent nine-point falls since January. On the plus side — indeed, the only leadership criteria in which Merz scored a majority in the survey — about 60% of respondents believe that Merz "speaks understandably."

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

It's no shock that Merz isn't exactly the most popular chancellor-in-waiting Germany has ever seen. But Ursula Münch, the director of the Tutzing Academy for Political Education in Bavaria, told DW that it's........

© Deutsche Welle