(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) continue to dominate in Germany’s political scene, according to a poll by FG Whalen released by ZDF. 39 per cent of respondents would vote for either party in the next election to the Federal Diet.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is second with 26 per cent, followed by the Left Party (Linke) with 12 per cent, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) with 10 per cent, and the Green Party (Grune) with nine 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.

Merkel has recently expressed her support for re-developing Germany’s nuclear power industry. On Jul. 16, Cem Oezdemir, a senior member of the Green Party, said the chancellor’s position on nuclear energy will make it "unthinkable" for the Greens to support her party after the next legislative election. Oezdemir declared: "Merkel’s party looks more and more like the parliamentary lobby for the nuclear industry. (...) We don’t even need to think about an alliance under such circumstances."

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

Polling Data

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

Source: FG Wahlen / ZDF
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,292 German adults, conducted from Jul. 8 to Jul. 10, 2008. Margin of error is 2.7 per cent.

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