(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Support for the alliance of the Christian-Democratic Union (CSU) and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) fell slightly in Germany, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 42 per cent of respondents would vote for the coalition in this month's federal election, down one point since early September.

The governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) of chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is second with 34 per cent, followed by the Left Party (Linke)—which merges the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and the Electoral Alternative for Labour and Social Justice (WASG)—with eight per cent, the Green Party (Grune) with seven per cent, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) with six per cent.

On Jul. 1, Schroeder deliberately lost a no-confidence motion in the Federal Diet after a 151-296 vote, with 148 abstentions. A federal election has been scheduled for Sept. 18. The CDU has named Angela Merkel as its chancellor candidate. Germany has never had a female head of government.

The FDP is considered as the most likely coalition partner for the CDU-CSU alliance. Support for the combined political organizations is at 48 per cent, while the prospective total for the SPD, Grune and Linke is 49 per cent.

On Sept. 7, Schroeder said he expected an even better outcome for the Social Democrats, declaring, "We aim to add another 4 per cent in the next 10 days." In 2002, the SPD received 38.5 per cent of all cast ballots.

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