Credit:White House photo by Eric Draper

Gerhard Schroeder

(Angus Reid Consultants - CPOD Global Scan) - If they could choose their head of government in a direct election, more Germans would back current chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, according to a poll by Infratest-Dimap. 46 per cent of respondents would vote for Schroeder, while 34 per cent would support Angela Merkel of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU).

In recent weeks, Schroeder's Social Democratic Party (SPD) has been dropping in voting intention polls, while the coalition of the CSU and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) has extended its lead as the top political group in Germany. Schroeder has headed the federal administration since October 1998.

The Green Party (Grune) is currently the SPD's coalition partner. A prospective alliance of the CDU, CSU and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) might garner enough support to form the government after the next parliamentary election, tentatively scheduled for September 2006.

Schroeder has been affected by Germany's highest jobless ratio since the 1930s. The country's unemployment rate was 12.6 per cent in January, meaning 5.2 million adults are looking for work.

Yesterday, Schroeder suggested reducing the corporate tax rate from 25 per cent to 19 per cent, and boosting expenditures in infrastructure in order to encourage economic recovery.

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