Germans prefer Merkel as chancellor - poll
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-23 16:34

More Germans want conservative leader Angela Merkel to become the next chancellor than want incumbent Social Democrat Gerhard Schroeder, a new poll showed on Friday.

The survey, by the Emnid polling institute, indicated 47 percent of Germans wanted Merkel in the Chancellery against 44 percent who preferred Schroeder.

Merkel's conservatives narrowly edged Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) in last Sunday's election, but not by enough for Schroeder to concede defeat.

He has argued that Merkel's showing in the vote, which was far poorer than pollsters had predicted, demonstrates that Germans want him to stay in office.

As neither conservatives nor the SPD are able to form a government with their preferred partners, they have been forced to talk with each other about the possibility of sharing power.

The key hurdle to such a deal is an agreement between the parties on who should be the next chancellor.

The poll also showed that 73 percent of Germans were against new elections to settle the standoff.

One in four Germans wants a "grand coalition" between Merkel and Schroeder's parties, while one in three prefers a coalition with Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), their sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and the environmentalist Greens.

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