Poll: Germany’s Merkel still on track for majority

It gave the pro-business Free Democrats,an opposition party with which Merkel hopes to form a new governing coalition,15 per cent – a one-point gain. That would be enough to give the pair a majority.

The center-left Social Democrats of Merkel’s challenger,Frank-Walter Steinmeier,were unchanged at 23 per cent,while the opposition Greens dropped a point to 11 per cent and the Left Party gained a point to 10 per cent,the poll found.

The Social Democrats hailed losses for Merkel’s party in two of three regional elections on Sunday as a boost for their own campaign and for their hopes of preventing a center-right government.

However,the Social Democrats’ own results in the regional vote were poor and the latest poll suggests they are still making little headway nationally ahead of the Sept. 27 election.

The party is currently the junior partner in Merkel’s tense “grand coalition,” the result of an indecisive 2005 election,and Steinmeier is her foreign minister.

The poll found that 62 per cent want Merkel as chancellor and only 26 per cent prefer Steinmeier.

It also found that only 31 per cent would like to see more aggressive campaigning. Opponents have criticized Merkel’s non-confrontational campaign style,but the chancellor has said she won’t change tack.

The survey of 1,332 people,conducted by the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen polling group,gave a margin of error of plus or minus up to three per centage points.