German Chancellor Merz's approval drops to 14 percent as CDU weighs coalition breakup

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz faces his deepest crisis yet, with only 14 percent of Germans viewing him as the right leader and 78 percent rejecting him, according to an Insa poll for Bild. Support among CDU/CSU voters has collapsed to 36 percent. The poll of 1,003 people on September 10-11 shows the AfD leading at 29 percent, nine points ahead of the Union at 20 percent. The Greens rose to 14 percent, surpassing the SPD at 13 percent. A Kenya coalition of Union, Greens, and SPD would be the only viable majority option. The Zeit reports CDU leaders are considering firing SPD chair and Labor Minister Bärbel Bas to boost Merz's image, a move that could trigger a coalition collapse. State elections loom, with the CDU at seven percent in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and 22 percent in Lower Saxony.