Germany's conservatives could govern with the Greens, poll shows

Mark Schroers, Bloomberg News on Dec 7, 2024

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Germany’s conservatives and Greens would have a majority to form a government after the snap election in February, according to a new opinion poll published Saturday.

The two parties would have a combined 44% representation, the latest Insa survey for Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed. The Free Democrats, meanwhile, would miss the 5% threshold for getting into parliament as their backing fell one percentage point to 4% from last week.

The poll adds to the recent debate about a potential coalition between the CDU/CSU and the Greens after the Feb. 23 election, with diverging views within the conservatives alliance. Such a coalition would be a novelty on the federal level, though the two parties currently form governments in three of Germany’s 16 federal states.

Support for CDU/CSU in the Insa survey was unchanged at 32%, while the Greens were at 12%, down one percentage point. Backing for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ SPD was at 16%, one percentage point higher than last week.

Conservative leader Friedrich Merz earlier this week toned down his criticism of the Greens to keep coalition options open.

But CDU’s general secretary Carsten Linnemann told dpa on Saturday that the union wants a policy change in migration, economics and social policy. “That can’t be done with these Greens,” he said.

Linnemann also denied that a meeting between Merz and the leaders of the Greens had already been scheduled as suggested by the latter.

The far-right Alternative for Germany was second in the Insa survey with 19%. On Saturday, it formally nominated party leader Alice Weidel as its first chancellor candidate in its 11-year history.