(08/25/09) -

Germans Will Vote for Centre-Right Parties

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – An upcoming election in Germany will grant a new term in office to the ruling conservatives, according to a poll by FG Wahlen released by ZDF. 37 per cent of respondents would vote for the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) or its associate Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) in the September election to the Federal Diet, up one point since early August.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – An upcoming election in Germany will grant a new term in office to the ruling conservatives, according to a poll by FG Wahlen released by ZDF. 37 per cent of respondents would vote for the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) or its associate Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) in the September election to the Federal Diet, up one point since early August.

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 nine 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 51 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 Aug. 24, Merkel vowed to keep up the pressure on the country’s bosses and politicians to bridge the gap between men and women’s salaries, adding, "I advise any woman who earns less than her male colleague for the same work to go to her boss self-confidently and say something has to change."

Polling Data

What party would you vote for in the next federal election?

Source: FG Wahlen / ZDF
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,262 German adults, conducted from Aug. 18 to Aug. 20, 2009. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.