Record two thirds of Germans unhappy with Chancellor Scholz, survey shows

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends the government's 'Open House Day' in Berlin, Germany, 21 August, 2022.

Only 25% of Germans believe the Social Democrat is doing his job well, down from 46% in March, according to the poll by Insa for Bild am Sonntag weekly newspaper.

By contrast 62% of Germans think Scholz - who was deputy chancellor under veteran conservative leader Angela Merkel in the previous ruling coalition - is doing his job badly, a record number, compared to just 39% in March.

Since taking power, Scholz has had to deal with the war in Ukraine, an energy crisis, soaring inflation and now drought - all pushing Europe's largest economy to the brink of a recession. Critics have accused him of not showing sufficient leadership.

Support for his Social Democratic Party (SPD) stood at just 19%, the Insa survey showed, well behind the opposition conservatives and junior coalition partners the Greens, and below the 25.7% the SPD took in the federal election last year.

Around 65% of Germans are unhappy with the work of Germany's three-way coalition government as a whole, compared with 43 % in March.

The poll comes after a particularly tough week for Scholz.

First, he got into hot water by failing to immediately contradict Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at a joint news conference in Berlin when he accused Israel of committing "50 Holocausts".

Then on Friday opposition lawmakers in Hamburg accused him of obfuscating the truth at a hearing into a major tax scam that took place during his tenure as mayor of the northern port city - charges he denies, instead protesting memory lapses.