Credit:UN/DPI Photo

Gerhard Schroeder

(Angus Reid Global Scan) - The coalition of the Christian-Democratic Union (CSU) and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) continues to lead all political organizations in Germany, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 47 per cent of respondents would support the alliance in the next federal election.

The governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) of chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is second with 26 per cent, followed by the coalition of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and the Electoral Alternative for Labour and Social Justice (WASG) with 11 per cent, the Green Party (Grune) with seven per cent, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) with six per cent. Support for the PDS-WASG coalition—which includes former finance minister Oskar Lafontaine—increased by two per cent in a week.

The German government has been affected by the highest jobless ratio since the 1930s. The country's unemployment rate was 11.8 per cent in March, meaning 4.8 million adults are looking for work.

While the next parliamentary ballot was tentatively scheduled for September 2006, Schroeder has openly suggested holding an early federal election. The sitting administration is expected to lose a confidence motion tomorrow. Yesterday, government spokesperson Bela Anda said the chancellor intends to see "whether he can count on the solid confidence of a majority of voters."

Schroeder is expected to lead the SPD into the election—which could happen on Sept. 18—and would face CDU chancellor candidate Angela Merkel.

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