Parties exploring next German coalition enjoy majority support -poll
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[October 15, 2021]
BERLIN (Reuters) - A majority of
Germans is in favour of a coalition government led by the Social
Democrats' Olaf Scholz, a survey showed on Friday, an encouraging result
for the three parties involved as they prepare for the next phase of
negotiations.
Some 62% of respondents to the ZDF Politbarometer survey said they would
back a coalition government of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD),
the Greens and liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
The three parties are holding internal consultations on the outcome of
exploratory talks on forming a government together and are widely
expected on Friday to seek formal approval from their members for the
start of official coalition negotiations.
Such a move, from the exploratory talks to full coalition negotiations,
would show the three parties are likely to form the next government.
They have shared power before at state level but never in a national
government.
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The SPD narrowly beat outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives
in a Sept. 26 national federal ballot but did not win a majority.
Merkel, who has led Germany for 16 years, often in coalition with the
SPD, did not stand for re-election and plans to stand down as soon as a
new government has been formed. Scholz, who is finance minister in the
outgoing coalition, has said he hopes a new administration can take
power by the end of the year.
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![](../images/101521pics/news_a47.jpg)
Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) top candidate for chancellor
Olaf Scholz arrives at a meeting for exploratory talks for a
possible new government coalition in Berlin, Germany, October 15,
2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
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The survey for ZDF by pollster Forschungsgruppe
Wahlen found that Scholz, 63, was particularly popular, with
three-quarters of the 1,329 respondents interviewed by phone from
Tuesday to Thursday saying they wanted him to replace Merkel.
The poll had a margin of error of three percentage points.
Unlike many other European countries, where the president or monarch
invites one party leader to try to form a government, in Germany it
is up to the parties themselves to decide who should ally with whom.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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