(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - German chancellor Angela Merkel continues to be highly popular in the country, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 60 per cent of respondents would vote for the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) leader if they could cast a ballot for the country’s most important political position, up five points since December.

Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Kurt Beck is second with just 10 per cent, down eight points in six months.

Official results from the September 2005 election to the Federal Diet gave Merkel’s 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 "grand coalition" administration includes members of the CDU, CSU and SPD.

Illinois senator Barack Obama—the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic Party in this year’s U.S. election—is expected to visit Germany and give a speech in Berlin’s historical Brandenburg Gate on Jul. 24. Berlin mayor and SPD member Klaus Wowereit wants to allow Obama to speak at the gate, but Merkel has not expressed support for the idea.

On Jul. 10, Wowereit outlined his disappointment, saying, "I cannot understand the stance of Ms. Merkel. (...) We should be happy if the potential American president wants to come to Berlin to hold a big speech. That is a compliment and a good sign for German-American friendship. We shouldn’t lay obstacles in his path but welcome him."

Polling Data

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

Source: Forsa / Stern / RTL
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 2,500 German adults, conducted from Jun. 23 to Jun. 27, 2008. Margin of error is four per cent.

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