(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The junior partner in Germany’s governing Grand Coalition has lost public support, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. Only 20 per cent of respondents would vote for the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the next election to the Federal Diet, down three points since late May.

The other two governing parties—the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU)—remain in first place with 36 per cent. The Left Party (Linke) is third with 15 per cent, followed by the Free Democratic Party (FDP) with 13 per cent, and the Green Party (Grune) with 12 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 May 31, SPD leader Kurt Beck said his party would not consider any future alliance with the Left Party—which includes several SPD dissidents—declaring, "There is no question of forming a government with them, nor any acceptance of support from it, because this party is totally at odds with our basic convictions." Some SPD leaders had called for closer ties with the Left Party, causing internal strife in the SPD.

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: Interviews with 2,502 German adults, conducted from May 26 to May 30, 2008. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.

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