(Angus Reid Global Scan) - The alliance of the Christian-Democratic Union (CSU) and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) keeps a steady level of public backing in Germany, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 43 per cent of respondents would vote for the coalition in this month's federal election.

The governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) of chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is second with 31 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 nine per cent, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) with seven per cent, and the Green Party (Grune) also with seven 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 50 per cent, while the prospective total for the SPD, Grune and Linke is 47 per cent.

On Sept. 4, Schroeder and Merkel participated in the only televised two-person debate of the campaign. The CDU leader criticized the current chancellor's economic policies, saying, "You can't be satisfied with the situation in this country. I don't see anything in your programme to address this." Schroeder defended his proposals, declaring, "What you're saying about the economy overlooks that Germany has become the world's top exporter in the last three years. That is because of our structural reforms."

An additional meeting—which will include other party leaders in the format of a round-table discussion—has been scheduled for Sept. 12.

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