After 16 years of power, Angela Merkel will step down as German chancellor after the federal election in September, and it appears that the majority of the population want to see a break from the Merkel years. According to a new survey, more than sixty percent of German citizens are in favour of a change of government. 

6 in 10 Germans want a new government

The political mood for change in Germany has reached an all-time high. At least, that’s the finding of a new Allensbach survey, published on Monday by the Bertelsmann Foundation, in which more than six out of 10 respondents (61,5 percent) with German citizenship said they would like to see the federal government change at the next election. 

This is the highest value recorded since the early 1990s, when the regular survey first began to ask this question. Only one in eight respondents indicated they would not like to see a change in the federal government. 

Climate and integration issues high on the agenda

Two-thirds of those surveyed said they would like to see different policies in a number of areas, compared to just 14 percent who wanted to see a continuation of current government policies. 

When asked about specific policy areas, 55,4 percent of those surveyed said they would like to see a different approach when it comes to environmental and climate protection policies. Other areas where change would be most welcomed include refugee and integration policies (54,9 percent), pensions (53,0 percent) and education (52,4 percent).