German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s domestic popularity has further declined apparently because of her liberal attitude toward the entry of refugees into Germany. A poll for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed on Sunday that 50 percent of Germans are now against Merkel remaining in power.

Half of the 501 people questioned in the Emnid poll for the newspaper were against Merkel staying in office for a fourth term after the 2017 election. Only 42 percent wanted her to remain.

In November, the last time Bild am Sonntag commissioned a survey on the issue, 45 percent had wanted Merkel to remain at the helm of the country and 48 percent wanted her to leave. The number shows a 5-6 percent change of heart among the Germans in the past nine months.

The paper linked Merkel’s so-called open-door refugee policy, which has allowed hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere into Germany, to the alteration in the chancellor’s popularity.

Presstv