Over 40% of Germans Could Participate in Protests against Gov't Policies: Poll
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - More than 40% of German nationals could imagine their participation in protests against policies of the government of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a poll conducted by the Institute for New Social Answers (INSA) for German newspaper Bild showed on Tuesday.
The poll showed that 45% of respondents could imagine taking their discontent with the incumbent government to the streets, while some 40% of the polled people said they would not protest, Sputnik reported.
About 48% of supporters of the Free Democratic Party in the ruling coalition said that they might be ready to take to the streets in protests against the policies of their party as well. Supporters of Scholz's Social Democratic Party and the Alliance 90/The Greens coalition are more loyal to the government's policies: 66% and 69% of supporters of these parties have no intent of participating in protests.
At the same time, young people are the most protesting age group, with 52% of people aged between 18 and 29 years old saying they might protest.
The survey was held on Monday and polled 1,001 Germans.
A week of protests by German farmers against government plans to abolish diesel subsidies began Monday.
In December 2023, the German government announced plans to abolish diesel subsidies for farmers amid the budget crisis, which would bring 440 million euros ($481 million) to the federal budget. The government also planned to end tax breaks on vehicles for forestry and agriculture, gaining an additional 480 million euros. The announcement triggered multiple farmer protests throughout the entire country.
German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said last week that instead of canceling diesel subsidies all at once, their amounts would be cut gradually, and vehicle tax breaks for forestry and agriculture would remain in place. However, farmers still continued their protests and strikes across the country.
