Credit:UN/DPI Photo by Manfred Grohe

Gerhard Schroeder

(Angus Reid Global Scan) - The Christian-Democratic Union (CSU) and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) continue to command Germany's federal political scene, according to a poll by Infratest-Dimap. 46 per cent of respondents would vote for the coalition in the next election.

The governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) of chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is second with 30 per cent, followed by the Green Party (Grune) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) with seven per cent each, and the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) with five per cent.

The Greens are currently the SPD's coalition partner in the federal administration. Both parties have a combined support of 37 per cent, 16 per cent less than a prospective alliance between the Christian Democrats and the Free Democrats. The federal government has been affected by Germany's 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.

On May 22, the Christian Democrats won the election in North Rhine-Westphalia with 44.8 per cent of the vote. The Social Democrats had been involved in the government of Germany's most populous state since 1966. While the next parliamentary ballot was tentatively scheduled for September 2006, Schroeder has openly suggested holding an early federal election. A confidence vote is expected before the end of the legislative period on Jul. 1.

On May 25, the 61-year-old Schroeder declared he expected a close contest, saying, "I think we would do well to lead a very personalized debate, based on the two main candidates." Schroeder's main rival will be 50-year-old CDU leader Angela Merkel.

Germany has never had a female head of government.

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