No respite for Schroeder

2003-05-27 11:15

Hamburg - A fresh opinion poll released on Tuesday put German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's ruling Social Democrats at a record low, despite a morale-boosting victory in a regional election.

It credited his SPD with only 25% of the vote if a general election were held this Sunday, compared to 49% for the opposition conservative Christian Union alliance.

The SPD figure is down one point from last week's eight-year low to a level never before reached by the Forsa institute which carried out the poll.

It also shows that despite Sunday's surprisingly wide margin of victory in the northern city-state of Bremen, the SPD nationally is in deep trouble.

That success is put down to the personal popularity of the SPD's leader in Bremen and the fear of breaking up the left-right coalition running the state, rather than anything Schroeder has done.

Indeed, Social Democrats in Bremen deliberately kept the chancellor out of their campaign.

The Forsa poll for RTL television and the weekly news magazine Stern found the Christian Union up one point.

There was no change for the two main smaller parties, with the Greens on 12% and the liberal Free Democrats on seven percent.

The same survey of 2 505 people also found that only 17% thought the SPD capable of leading Germany out of its economic crisis. More than three in four - 77% - did not think so.

The SPD won 38.5% in last September's general election.

Since then, the economy has, if anything, got even worse.

Unemployment last month was 4.46 million, the highest for April since 1990 and equivalent to 10.7% of the working-age population.

Economic growth is well below the EU average, Berlin has given up hopes of balancing the budget by 2006 and the public deficit has earned it a reprimand from Brussels.

Meanwhile Schroeder is trying to push a controversial package of social and economic reforms past the combined opposition of unions and SPD dissenters.

It would reduce benefits for the long-term unemployed, ease the ability of companies to make workers redundant, curb spending on health and pensions and raise the retirement age.

- AFX