Intended successor Angela Merkel scores poorly in polls | Abroad

Laschet, party chairman of the CDU and party leader for the upcoming elections, is under fire for the role he played in the recent flood in Germany. He was filmed laughing and chatting in the hard-hit city of Erftstadt, while in the foreground President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed his condolences to the victims.

The leader of the party apologized for this via Twitter on the same evening, but that did not stop the German media from criticizing his behaviour. Der Spiegel wondered whether Merkel is really entrusting the job of Chancellor to someone who cannot control himself. Der Tagesspiegel stated that this would never have happened to Merkel.

The floods seem to put the climate back on the political agenda. A poll by broadcaster ARD shows that 81 percent of Germans believe that more should be done in the field of climate. But Laschet, now Prime Minister of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, is known for being more conservative on climate issues. A poll by the German research agency Civey on Wednesday showed that 26 percent think that Laschet can provide good protection for the climate.

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