(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The next federal ballot in Germany will likely see the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) re-elected to government, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 38 per cent of respondents would vote for either party in the next election to the Federal Diet, up one point since early September.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is second with 25 per cent, followed by the Left Party (Linke) with 14 per cent, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) with 10 per cent, and the Green Party (Grune) with eight per cent.

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

On Sept. 7, SPD leader Kurt Beck tendered his resignation. The party chose transport, building and urban affairs minister Franz Muentefering to replace Beck, and picked Frank-Walter Steinmeier to run against Merkel in the next federal election. Steinmeier has been Germany’s foreign minister since November 2005, and also serves as Germany’s vice-chancellor.

On Sept. 21, Merkel accused the United States and Britain of dragging the European economy into a crisis due to what she described as their "reticence" to accept the regulation of financial institutions, saying, "I’m criticizing the self-image of the financial markets—which have unfortunately resisted voluntary rules for too long with the support of the governments of Great Britain and the United States."

Germany’s next federal ballot is tentatively scheduled for September 2009.

Polling Data

What party would you support in Germany’s next federal election?

Source: Forsa / Stern / RTL
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 2,500 German adults, conducted from Sept. 10 to Sept. 12, 2008. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.

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