(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Germany’s conservative parties could secure a new term in office in next year’s ballot, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 37 per cent of respondents would support the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) or the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) in the next election to the Federal Diet, unchanged since late August.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is second with 21 per cent, followed by the Left Party (Linke) with 14 per cent, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) with 13 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.

On Sept. 5, Merkel reiterated that the CDU-CSU would not seek another alliance with the SPD next year, and declared: "We’re dealing with a coalition partner that’s becoming increasingly unreliable. (...) We’ve achieved a great deal, but we need a different political constellation, and that’s why we aim to form a coalition with the Liberals [FDP]."

Germany’s next federal ballot is tentatively scheduled for September 2009.

Polling Data

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

Source: Forsa / Stern / RTL
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 2,502 German adults, conducted from Aug. 25 to Aug. 29, 2008. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.

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