(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Three-in-five German adults would vote for Angela Merkel in a direct ballot, according to a poll by Infratest-Dimap. 62 per cent of respondents would support the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) leader in an election to choose the country’s federal chancellor, up eight points since February.

Conversely, 20 per cent of respondents would support Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Kurt Beck, down five points in a month.

Official results from the September 2005 election to the Federal Diet gave the CDU and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (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 Merkel was sworn in as Germany’s first female head of government. The current administration includes members of the CDU, CSU and SPD.

Beck has been criticized recently for going back on a pledge to avoid collaboration with the Left Party (Linke) in state governments. On Mar. 10, he rejected calls to step down, saying, "My willingness to lead the party hasn’t been weakened. I regret if I contributed to any irritations. (...) I believe a certain degree of criticism is warranted."

Polling Data

If you could directly elect the federal chancellor, who would you vote for?

Source: Infratest-Dimap
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,500 German voters, conducted from Mar. 3 to Mar. 5, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

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