German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers a speech during an election rally of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for Germany's federal election in Schwerin, Germany, on Sept. 19, 2017. Germans will elect a new federal parliament on Sept. 24. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
BERLIN, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A survey by opinion research institute Emnid Tuesday underlined the strong support Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) enjoys concerning the German trust in her abilities as a politician.
Emnid has surveyed German citizens for the news channel N24 on the perceived level of competence of the chancellor candidates of the six largest parties in different political areas.
Merkel tops the ranking on almost every political field, even outranking former President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz (SPD) on the subject of Europe. AfD candidate Alice Weidel receives the lowest values in all areas.
55 percent of the survey participants selected Merkel as the candidate with economic competence, followed by Christian Lindner, chairman of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) at 32 percent. Schulz was chosen by 31 percent of those surveyed, trailing behind Merkel.
Cem Oezdemir (The Greens) reached 17 percent, Sahra Wagenknecht (The Left) 12 percent and Alice Weidel (AfD) came last in the area of economic competence at six percent.
While Schulz has not been active in German federal politics over the past years due to his long career in the European Parliament, he is not viewed as more competent than Merkel regarding European politics.
59 percent of the survey respondents consider the incumbent chancellor to be competent, Schulz reached 46 percent, followed by The Green co-chair Oezdemir at 21 percent, Lindner at 18 percent and Wagenknecht at twelve percent. Only five percent consider Weidel to be competent in matters of European politics.
Although Merkel's stance on the refugee crisis was met with heavy criticism, only few trust Merkel's political opponents to make a more solid refugee policy than her. Merkel is considered competent by 52 percent, followed by Schulz at 35 percent, Oezdemir at 28 percent, Wagenknecht at 22 percent, Lindner at 19 percent, and Weidel at 11 percent.
The area of social justice, according to the survey, is the only one in which Schulz achieves a higher perceived level of competence than Merkel.
"Time for more justice" is the motto under which the SPD spearheads the election campaign. Schulz' proposed citizens' insurance scheme, the abolition of the unfounded temporal limitation of employment as well as the elimination of exceptions to the minimum wage convinced the survey participants. 44 percent of respondents consider Schulz to be competent, while Merkel reached 40 percent.
Questioned on competence concerning environmental policies, The Greens candidate Oezdemir is considered the most capable. Almost every second respondent accredits competence in matters of environmental policy to Oezdemir at 49 percent. 39 percent of the respondents consider Merkel a competent environmental lawmaker, followed by Schulz at 24 percent, Wagenknecht at 16 percent, Lindner at 15 percent and Weidel at six percent.
