(Angus Reid Global Scan) - The coalition of the Christian-Democratic Union (CSU) and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) is holding on to first place in Germany, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 47 per cent of respondents would support the alliance in the next federal election.

The governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) of chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is second with 26 per cent, followed by the coalition of 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 seven 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. German president Horst Koehler has 21 days to decide whether to call an early election. There is growing speculation that the ballot could be scheduled for Sept. 18.

On Jul. 8, CDU chancellor candidate Angela Merkel won the support of conservative state premiers for a proposal to increase the country's value added tax from 16 per cent to 18 per cent. The measure is expected to generate $19 billion U.S.

Schroeder's government has been affected by the 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.

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