CDU party leader Armin Laschet reacts at the end of the digital federal party conference in Berlin, Germany, Jan 16, 2021. (ODD ANDERSEN / POOL VIA AP)
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc widened its lead in a weekly poll ahead of Germany’s election as support for the Green party slipped further.
Combined support for Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and its Bavaria-based CSU ally was unchanged at 28 percent in Insa’s poll for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. The Greens retreated 1 percentage point to 19 percent, shrinking their advantage over the Social Democratic Party, which polled 17 percent.
It’s a comedown for the Greens after some polls put them ahead of the CDU-CSU in April, before Merkel’s bloc chose CDU chairman Armin Laschet as its candidate to succeed her as chancellor
It’s a comedown for the Greens after some polls put them ahead of the CDU-CSU in April, before Merkel’s bloc chose CDU chairman Armin Laschet as its candidate to succeed her as chancellor.
ALSO READ: Germany's ruling conservatives move up in polls
The pro-business Free Democrats, Laschet’s preferred coalition, declined 1 point to 12 percent. The nationalist Alternative for Germany polled 11 percent and the anti-capitalist Left party rose 1 point to 7 percent.
If the Sept 26 election goes the way polls suggest, it’s likely that the only two-party coalition with a parliamentary majority to govern would be the CDU-CSU and the Greens. Merkel has led the government of Europe’s biggest economy for 16 years and isn’t seeking a fifth term.
The June 21-25 poll of 1,203 people has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
READ MORE: Merkel's bloc, Greens both dip in German election poll
