(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The two top conservative parties in Germany have seen a severe drop in popularity this month, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 33 per cent of respondents would vote for the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) in the next election to the Federal Diet, down five points since mid-September.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is second with 27 per cent, followed by the Left Party (Linke) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) both with 13 per cent, and the Green Party (Grune) with nine 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. 7, 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 Oct. 7, Merkel warned that Germany will not escape the global financial crisis, and suggested that a review of the country’s financial institutions is in order, saying, "We have to ask ourselves whether the banking sector regulator [BaFin] has lived up to its tasks."

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 2,008 German adults, conducted from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2, 2008. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.

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