(CPOD) Nov. 27, 2004 - The coalition of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) holds a smaller lead in Germany, according to a poll by Infratest-Dimap. 39 per cent of respondents would vote for the alliance in the next election to the Federal Diet.

The ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) of chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is in second place with 32 per cent, followed by the Green Party (Grune), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS).

In September, the CDU-CSU coalition held a 12 per cent advantage over the ruling SPD. The lead has shrunk to seven per cent in the latest survey. The alliance has quarrelled over which candidate should challenge Schroeder in the next parliamentary ballot, tentatively scheduled for September 2006.

On Nov. 15, the CDU-CSU coalition presented its health care plan. Funding for one of the world's costliest medical systems is expected to become a key issue in the next election. The coalition's proposal—which was developed after a year of sometimes dividing negotiations between CDU leader Angela Merkel and CSU head Edmund Stoiber—calls for monthly standard contributions of $141 U.S. per person, while allowing low wage-earners to pay no more than seven per cent of their income.

Schroeder called the proposal "a bureaucratic monster that could not possibly have been done any worse than that."

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