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Germany’s Greens hit poll high, ahead of Merkel’s bloc: survey

  • June 06, 2019

A Deutschlandtrend poll by Infratest dimap has put the environmentalist Greens up 6 percentage points at a record 26%, one point ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and sister party Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), reflecting a similar sampling last week.

In last month’s European Parliament elections, the Greens came second among German voters with 20.5%, behind Merkel’s bloc, with a mandate focused on issues such as climate change and renewables-based economy.

In another boon for the Greens, the party’s dual leadership of Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock polled at 36% and 26% respectively, placing them fourth and sixth as preferred national politicians in Thursday’s findings published by Germany’s ARD public broadcaster.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (picture-alliance/dpa/M. Kappeler)

Only 27% thought Kramp-Karrenbauer would make a good chancellor

AKK slumps

Merkel maintained her top placing at 53%, only 2% down from her Deutschlandtrend rating in May.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who in December took over from Merkel as conservative CDU party leader, slumped 12 percentage points to 24% in the poll, which asked 1,500 Germans how they would vote if an election were to be held on Sunday.

The poor result for Kramp-Karrenbauer, also known as AKK, was her lowest rating yet in a Deutschlandtrend survey. Only 27% thought she would make a good chancellor.

Far-right AfD ahead of Social Democrats

On party preference respondents put the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) at 13%, just ahead of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) at 12% as it searches for a new leader after this week’s resignation of Andrea Nahles. For the Social Democrats and Merkel’s conservatives, the Deutschlandtrend results are their worst ever. 

The business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) remained at 8% Thursday, while the socialist Left party slipped to 7%, down 2% on last month.

In a separate sampling on Thursday, the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen polling agency put Merkel’s conservatives at 27%, with the Greens close behind at 26%.

Dissatisfaction with Merkel government

In another Infratest sampling of 1,000 voters, 72% responded that they were somewhat or completely dissatisfied with the work of Merkel’s coalition government of her conservatives and the SPD, a 10% rise in dissatisfaction since last month. Those who were satisfied or very satisfied with the coalition’s work made up only 28%.

In a separate YouGov survey, a majority of 52% wanted a fresh federal election. Only 27% called for a continuation of Merkel’s coalition government.

The most preferred future coalition for 25% of respondents was an alliance of the Greens, the SPD and Left party.

A so-called “Jamaica” alliance between Merkel’s conservatives, the Greens and FDP came next at 15%, with a conservative-Greens scenario relegated to 14%.

Among Green party voters, 54% hoped their party would enter into an alliance with the SPD and Left party. Only 25% wanted a Greens-conservative model, along the lines of the governments in the regional states of Hesse and in Baden-Württemberg.

Next real test in eastern states

Merkel’s ruling coalition — forged after months of wrangling in the wake of Germany’s 2017 general election — is nominally due to stay in office until 2021.

The next election test for the conservatives come in September and October, when regional assembly elections take place in Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia, three eastern German states where the far-right AfD is polling high.

  • Adenauer becomes chancellor (picture-alliance/Vack)

    A history of Germany’s coalition governments

    CDU/CSU – FDP – DP (1949-1957)

    The first democratic government to rule West Germany since the end of World War II saw Christian Democratic Union leader Konrad Adenauer form a governing coalition with the Free Democrats and the German Party (a now-defunct national conservative party). When Adenauer’s conservatives won re-election four years later, he once again turned to the same coalition partners.

  • Galerie Konrad Adenauer (picture-alliance/dpa)

    A history of Germany’s coalition governments

    CDU/CSU – FDP (1961-1966)

    After four years of ruling West Germany on their own between 1957 and 1961, the conservative Union lost their majority in the Bundestag and were forced to enter into coalition with the Free Democrats again. Adenauer resigned in 1963 for his part in the so-called “Spiegel” scandal. His Minister of Economic Affairs Ludwig Erhard (left) was elected by parliament to take over

  • Grand coalition: Kurt Georg Kiesinger and Willy Brandt (dpa)

    A history of Germany’s coalition governments

    CDU/CSU – SPD (1966-1969)

    The first ever “grand coalition” was not the product of an election. Ludwig Erhart was re-elected in 1965 and continued to rule alongside the FDP. However, the following year the Free Democrats left the government over budget disputes. Erhart also resigned and Kurt Kiesinger (right) was chosen to take over. With the FDP out, he governed with the Social Democrats, led by Willy Brandt (left).

  • Willy Brandt becomes German chancellor (picture-alliance/akg-images)

    A history of Germany’s coalition governments

    SPD – FDP (1969-1982)

    Willy Brandt became Germany’s first Social Democratic chancellor in the post-war period. Despite winning fewer votes than the CDU/CSU, Brandt struck a deal with the FDP to give them a narrow majority in the Bundestag. It wouldn’t be the last time the liberals would be called out for a perceived lack of loyalty. In 1974, Brandt was replaced by Helmut Schimdt, who went on to win two more elections.

  • Helmut Kohl (AP)

    A history of Germany’s coalition governments

    CDU/CSU – FDP (1982-1998)

    The 13-year friendship between the SPD and FDP ended in 1980 as the two parties’ differing ideologies became irreconcilable. The liberals again switched sides that year, dropping out of the coalition and seeking a deal with the conservatives. That caused the SPD-led government to collapse and a reborn CDU/CSU-FDP coalition formed under the leadership of Helmut Kohl (pictured).

  • East German cabinet De Maizière Berlin 1990 (picture-alliance/dpa/Wolfgang Kumm)

    A history of Germany’s coalition governments

    CDU – DSU – Democratic Awakening (1990)

    Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany held its first ever elections. The Christian Democrats under Lothar de Maiziere took over 40 percent of the vote. They went into coalition with two small parties: German Social Union and Democratic Awakening, whose members included one Angela Merkel. In October that year, the government signed the reunification treaty with West Germany.

  • Gerhard Schröder with a cigar in 1998 (picture alliance/dpa/W. Baum)

    A history of Germany’s coalition governments

    SPD – Green Party (1998-2005)

    In 2002, Helmut Kohl’s 16-year rule came to an end and the Social Democrats under Gerhard Schröder returned to power. The SPD formed a coalition with the Green party, who became a governing party less than 20 years after being founded. Unlike under Brandt, the SPD now led a left-wing government, rather than a center-left coalition. The SPD-Green party coalition remained in power until 2005.

  • Merkel Schröder and Müntefering 2005 (picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Bensch)

    A history of Germany’s coalition governments

    CDU/CSU – SPD (2005-2009)

    “Grand coalitions” do not come easily. When the first exit polls came in, both Schröder (right) and Angela Merkel (left) declared themselves the winner. In the end, Merkel’s conservatives defeated the SPD by just 1 percent. Germany’s two largest parties agreed to form the country’s second-ever grand coalition.

  • Bundestag 2009 Angela Merkel  Guido Westerwelle (Getty Images/A. Rentz)

    A history of Germany’s coalition governments

    CDU/CSU – FDP (2009-2013)

    The “grand coalition” experiment ended in 2009, after the SPD picked up a disappointing 23 percent in the federal elections. The Free Democrats, by contrast, gained almost 5 percent to give them over 14 percent of the vote. Merkel and the FDP’s Guido Westerwelle (left) formed a coalition with relative ease. It was, after all, Germany’s 11th CDU/CSU-FDP government.

  • Grand coalition CDU and SPD 27. Nov. 2013 Germany (Reuters)

    A history of Germany’s coalition governments

    CDU/CSU – SPD (2013-?)

    After taking more than 40 percent of the vote, Merkel’s conservatives probably weren’t expecting to rule with the SPD. But with her old allies the FDP failing to meet the 5 percent threshold to enter the Bundestag, options were limited. Merkel called on the SPD to join her and “take on the responsibility to build a stable government.” She made the same speech again four years later.

    Author: David Martin


ipj/cmk (dpa, Reuters)

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Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-s-greens-hit-poll-high-ahead-of-merkel-s-bloc-survey/a-49094285?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

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