Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Doubts about new ministers
Many do not trust Baerbock with the office
Foreign Minister Baerbock is one of the best-known faces of the new federal government. But according to a Forsa survey, only a minority consider it suitable. But she is not alone in this: almost exclusively Baerbock’s male colleagues do well, especially the new Minister of Health.
Annalena Baerbock has not been in office for a week as Foreign Minister, but she still has to do a lot of convincing that she is up to her task. In the current RTL / ntv trend barometer, the Chancellor candidate of the Greens is the best-known member of the new federal government with a value of 97 percent. At the same time, 60 percent of those surveyed are of the opinion that she is not suitable for the task. Almost a third of those surveyed (31 percent) can imagine that Baerbock will do a good job. 9 percent do not want to assess their suitability at this early stage.
The situation is exactly the other way around with Baerbock’s party colleague Robert Habeck (89 percent brand awareness). 61 percent of those questioned believe that the new Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and also Vice Chancellor in the cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz are confident that he has grown in office. Just under a quarter (24) are skeptical. 15 percent do not yet have an opinion.
The values of the new health minister Karl Lauterbach (96 percent of the respondents known) and the new agriculture minister Cem Özdemir (94 percent known) look similar: Almost three out of four respondents (73) believe that SPD politician Lauterbach will do a good job as a minister . 23 percent have their doubts. Özdemir attested two out of three respondents (65) to be suitable. Another quarter (24) do not believe that the well-known Green politician is a suitable Minister of Agriculture.
Only two men have to deliver
It is noticeable that especially the female members of the new cabinet still have to prove their suitability in the opinion of the respondents. In addition to Baerbock, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (26), Housing and Construction Minister Klara Geywitz (34), Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (36), Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (42) and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (43) came up with comparatively weak values in the question according to their qualifications. Only Family Minister Anne Spiegel (48) and Development Minister Svenja Schulze (51) put their trust in half of those questioned.
Of the male cabinet members, only the FDP ministers Marco Buschmann (Justice, 41 percent) and Volker Wissing (Transport and Digital, 44 percent) received aptitude rating of less than 50 percent. 55 percent trust the new Finance Minister Christian Lindner that he is suitable for the office.
The survey only collected values for the new ministers in the federal cabinet. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s suitability was therefore not asked for.
The data on the federal cabinet was collected by the market and opinion research institute forsa on behalf of RTL Germany from December 10th to 13th, 2021. Database: 1002 respondents. Statistical error tolerance: +/- 3 percentage points.