German centre-left takes big lead over Merkel govt
Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:49 GMT
BERLIN, April 19 (Reuters) - Germany's opposition Greens party and their fellow centre-left Social Democrats maintained a 17-point lead over Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition in an opinion poll published on Tuesday.
The survey by the Forsa Institute poll for Stern magazine showed the pro-environment Greens rising one point to 28 percent, equalling their best-ever score in a Forsa survey, while the SPD were down 1 point to 23 percent.
Merkel's conservatives were up 1 point to 31 percent while her Free Democrat (FDP) partners fell 1 point to 3 percent, a result far below the 14.6 percent the FDP won in the 2009 election.
The two centre-left opposition parties would have a 51-34 percent lead over the centre-right coalition if an election were to be held this week. The next federal election is due in 2013.
Forsa director Manfred Guellner said the FDP's weakness is due largely to unpopular Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. He said he will not run again to lead the party at an FDP congress in May, but said he wants to remain foreign minister.
"As long as he stays on as foreign minister, it's going to be difficult for the FDP to get out of the hole," Guellner said.
The Greens' popularity surged thanks to its uncompromising anti-nuclear position, which has helped them as German sentiment shifted in the wake of the Japanese nuclear disaster last month.
The Greens will also lead the government of one of Germany's 16 federal states, Baden-Wuerttemberg, for the first time following their victory there with the SPD last month. (Writing by Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Jon Hemming)
Leave a comment:
IMPORTANT: Your comment will not appear immediately as we vet all messages before publication. We don't publish comments that are racist or otherwise offensive. Nor do we publish comments that advertise products or services. Please keep your comment concise and do not write in capitals.
Post a Comment
Post a Comment