February 19, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Fewer people in Germany would elect chancellor Angela Merkel if they could take part in a direct ballot, according to a poll by Infratest-Dimap. 54 per cent of respondents would vote for Merkel, down eight points since January.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Fewer people in Germany would elect chancellor Angela Merkel if they could take part in a direct ballot, according to a poll by Infratest-Dimap. 54 per cent of respondents would vote for Merkel, down eight points since January.

One-in-four respondents would back Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Kurt Beck—up three points in a month—while 21 per cent are undecided or would support another politician.

Official results from the September 2005 election to the Federal Diet gave the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (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 Merkel was sworn in as Germany’s first female head of government. The current administration includes members of the CDU, CSU and SPD.

On Feb. 15, Beck demanded the resignation of Klaus Zumwinkel, chief executive of Deutsche Post AG. German police had raided Zumwinkel’s home a day earlier looking for evidence on his alleged tax evasion, estimated at $1.5 million U.S.

On that same day, Zumwinkel tendered his resignation. Merkel called the scandal "difficult and depressing" and described the scale of the alleged tax evasion as "beyond my imagination and beyond that of many people."

Polling Data

If you could directly elect the federal chancellor, who would you vote for?

	Feb. 2008	Jan. 2008	Dec. 2007
Angela Merkel (CDU)	54%	62%	58%
Kurt Beck (SPD)	25%	22%	22%
Neither / Other / Not sure	21%	24%	20%

Source: Infratest-Dimap
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 German voters, conducted from Feb. 4 to Feb. 6, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.