German Conservatives Dip Below 30% Ahead of February Vote
(Bloomberg) -- Support for Germany’s conservative opposition fell below 30% for the first time since April in a new poll, though it maintained a wide lead over the far-right Alternative for Germany ahead of next month’s election.
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Friedrich Merz’s center-right CDU/CSU alliance was in first place with 29% backing in the latest Insa survey for Bild am Sonntag newspaper, down one percentage point from the previous week.
The AfD also lost one point, to 21%, while support for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Greens was unchanged at 16% and 13%, respectively. Insa surveyed 1,206 people between Jan. 13 and Jan. 17 and the poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.9 points.
With just over a month to go before the Feb. 23 vote, Merz remains on course to become Germany’s next chancellor but will need at least one coalition partner to secure a majority in parliament.
As things stand, the Social Democrats and the Greens are his most likely options, though he may need a second party to make up the numbers in a three-way alliance. All of Germany’s main parties have said they won’t partner in government with the AfD.
“I hope that we get an election result in which we only need one coalition partner, but have at least two to choose from,” Merz was quoted as saying Sunday in an interview with weekly newspaper Die Zeit.
To seal a coalition deal, there’ll have to be a “fundamental” change in both economic and migration policy, added Merz, who’s blamed the Greens’ chancellor candidate and current economy minister Robert Habeck for Germany’s woes.
“And if the Greens don’t see that, then they will be eliminated as coalition partners very early on,” he told the paper.
Insa also conducted a poll asking who people would vote for if they could choose their chancellor directly.
Merz scored 23%, up two points from the previous survey, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel gained one point to 22%, Scholz climbed two points to 16%, and Habeck was up one point at 15%.
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
(Updates with Merz comments, polling average from sixth paragraph.)
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