(07/21/09) -

Germans to Elect Right-of-Centre Government

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – An upcoming election in Germany is likely to result in a coalition made up of conservative parties, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 36 per cent of respondents would vote for the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) or its associate Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) in this year’s election to the Federal Diet, down one point since early July.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – An upcoming election in Germany is likely to result in a coalition made up of conservative parties, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 36 per cent of respondents would vote for the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) or its associate Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) in this year’s election to the Federal Diet, down one point since early July.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is second with 23 per cent, followed by the Free Democratic Party (FDP) with 14 per cent, the Green Party (Grune) with 12 per cent, and the Left Party (Linke) with 10 per cent.

The next legislative ballot is scheduled for Sept. 27. The CDU-CSU alliance has said it would likely invite the pro-business FDP to form a new federal government. Together, the CDU, CSU and FDP garner the support of 50 per cent of respondents.

Official results from the September 2005 election to the Federal Diet gave the CDU and the CSU 226 seats, with the SPD a close second with 222 legislators. Neither of the two main parties was able to assemble a coalition government with their preferred partners. In November 2005, CDU leader Angela Merkel was sworn in as Germany’s first female head of government. The current administration includes members of the CDU, CSU and SPD.

In September 2008, SPD leader Kurt Beck tendered his resignation. The party chose transport, building and urban affairs minister Franz Muentefering to replace Beck, and picked Frank-Walter Steinmeier to run against Merkel in the next federal election. Steinmeier has been Germany’s foreign minister since November 2005, and also serves as Germany’s vice-chancellor.

On Jul. 19, Merkel made it clear that her party is not willing to continue governing in coalition with the SPD, declaring, "We need decisive policy—for growth, for technological advancement, to move forward, reduce bureaucracy. (…) As far as I’m concerned, we can do better with the FDP than with the grand coalition."

Polling Data

What party would you support in Germany’s next federal election?

Source: Forsa / Stern / RTL
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 2,501 German adults, conducted from Jul. 6 to Jul. 10, 2009. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.