GERMANY: DON'T BELIEVE POLITICIAN ARE TELLING THE TRUTH

By Todd Buell

   Reuters

   Supporters of German Chancellor Angela Merkel wave placards prior her arrival to address a meeting of her CDU party in Seligenstadt, central Germany.

Only one out of 10 Germans believe that politicians are telling them the truth about the euro crisis, a recent study from a German university shows. They cast blame, however, at the entire political class, suggesting that this disheartening find might not ultimately hurt incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of elections Sept. 22.

In a poll of just over 1,000 citizens by the University of Hohenheim and the ING-DiBa bank, only 11% of those asked said that politicians generally speak the truth about the euro crisis.

Surveys continue to suggest that Ms. Merkel’s CDU/CSU bloc will win the most number of votes in the upcoming election, though her coalition partner remains unclear.  A recent poll showed CDU/CSU receiving 40% support, while the coalition partner FDP got 5%. The Social Democrat/Green bloc received in total 36% of the vote in the survey.

Experts say the opposition can’t seize on this mistrust of politicians because voters’ frustration stretches beyond those in government to the entire political class. “Why change horses? If the others are also not going to tell the whole truth, then one can stay with the people we have,” explains Joachim Trebbe, a professor and expert on political communication at Berlin’s Free University.

Claudia Mast, a professor of communication at Hohenheim and study author, agrees that the populace is frustrated with all politicians, as the public sees no opposition to Ms. Merkel’s policy course. “It’s no wonder that many citizens mistrust all parties and politicians.”

She added that the survey asked citizens if certain groups of people represented their interests as citizens in the euro crisis. Neither the government nor the opposition scored well. Only 25% of respondents said the government represented them, but that topped the 18% who said that of the opposition.

Survey respondents, who are also of course German taxpayers, may have a fair gripe with their leaders on both sides of the aisle. The SPD and the Greens have both voted for every euro zone bailout package when they have come before the Bundestag, ultimately raising Germans’ financial liability.

While the SPD has sometimes attacked Ms. Merkel for being too harsh in demanding austerity from the euro-zone’s wobbly geographic periphery, the SPD’s lead candidate Peer Steinbrueck realizes now that any talk of more German transfers to the euro zone’s weak states, whether through bailouts or debt relief to Greece, is hardly the most popular electoral strategy.

Even the party that grew out of frustration over bailouts, the anti-euro Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party, seems unlikely to reach the 5% hurdle required to enter parliament.

–Harriet Torry contributed to this article