(Angus Reid Global Scan) - The Christian-Democratic Union (CSU) and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) are still the top political group in Germany, according to a poll by Infratest-Dimap. 42 per cent of respondents would support the alliance in next month's election to the Federal Diet.

The governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) of chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is second with 29 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 10 per cent, the Green Party (Grune) with nine per cent, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) with six 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 48 per cent, exactly the same as the prospective total for the SPD, Grune and Linke.

On Aug. 10, CSU leader Edmund Stoiber said he does not want East German voters to "swing" the election, declaring, "Unfortunately, we don't have such intelligent citizens everywhere as we do in Bavaria. We need to make up for some deficits in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. And I don't want the election to once again be decided by the East."

Yesterday, Schroeder officially launched the SPD's campaign in Berlin. The chancellor advised to "take the military options off of the table" in dealing with Iran's purported nuclear capabilities, adding, "We have seen that they're not suitable." Schroeder also referred to the Christian Democrat leaders, saying, "The strong-arm tactics and tastelessness of Mr. Stoiber and the leadership shortcomings of Ms. Merkel are not tailored to bringing this country together."

Polling Data

What party would you vote for in the next federal election?

Archive Search

Over 19,700 Polls
Search the Angus Reid Global Monitor Polls & Research archive.