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Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
Germans Maintain CDU-CSU in First Place
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The popularity of Germany’s main conservative parties has remained stable this month, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 37 per cent of respondents would back the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) or the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) in the next election to the Federal Diet, down one point since mid-April.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is second with 23 per cent, followed by the Left Party (Linke) with 14 per cent, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) also with 11 per cent, and the Green Party (Grune) with 10 per cent.
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.
Several economists have recently warned Merkel’s administration against increasing public spending before next year’s legislative election. Eckart Tuchtfeld, an economist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, declared earlier this month: "When the government took power, budget consolidation was at the forefront. Now the focus has shifted to additional spending."
Polling Data
What party would you support in Germany’s next federal election?
|
May 2 |
Apr. 11 |
Mar. 28 |
|
|
Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) / |
37% |
38% |
38% |
|
Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
23% |
24% |
23% |
|
Left Party (Linke) |
14% |
14% |
14% |
|
Free Democratic Party (FDP) |
11% |
11% |
11% |
|
Green Party (Grune) |
10% |
9% |
10% |
Source: Forsa / Stern / RTL
Methodology: Interviews with 2,003 German adults, conducted from Apr. 28 to May 2, 2008. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.