Most Germans say Merkel’s health is a personal issue

BERLIN, Germany – Nearly 60% of Germans feel that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bouts of uncontrolled shaking are a personal matter, according to a survey published on Saturday, July 13.

A poll published in the Augsburger Allgemeinen newspaper found that 59% of those questioned felt that trembling seen 3 times in public in the past month concerns Merkel’s “private” life, while 34% said it was a matter of public interest.

Merkel will celebrate her 65th birthday next Wednesday, July 17, and has been at the head of the German government for about 14 years.

A majority of those who identified themselves as supporting Merkel’s conservative CDU party, along with a majority of social democrats and environmentalists, believed it was an issue for the chancellor herself.

Only a majority of those who support the far-right AfD party felt Merkel’s health was a matter of public interest, the survey found.

Although she has suffered 3 bouts of uncontrolled shaking in public, and remained seated this week as national hymns were played during a ceremony with Denmark’s new prime minister, the German chancellor insists she is doing “very well.”

Merkel has said that her first bout of shaking on June 18 during a ceremony with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky provoked a psychosomatic reaction that was responsible for those that followed.

The mass-circulation daily Bild reported Friday, July 12, that Merkel has undergone extensive medical tests since the first incident, which was blamed on dehydration amid a heat wave that had swept over Berlin. – Rappler.com