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German SPD's Record Low in Poll Puts Strain on Merkel's Coalition

Reuters

   Support for Germany's Social Democrat (SPD) party, a junior partner in
   Chancellor AngelaMerkel's coalition, has slumped to a record low, a
   poll showedSaturday, piling more pressure on it to quit the
   governmentand rebuild in opposition.

   There is risingskepticismthat Merkel's coalition willsurvive until 2021
   after SPD leader AndreaNahlesquit two weeksago in the wake of
   herparty's losses in EuropeanParliamentelections and a regional vote in
   the state of Bremen.

   The troubledcenter-left SPD had the backing of 11% ofrespondents in a
   Forsa poll, a decline of 1 percentagepoint from a weekago. It marked
   its lowest level of support since 1949 and placedit in fourth, behind
   the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) with13%.

   The resurgent Greens remain the most popular party, with
   27%, attracting voters disenchanted with the ruling coalition
   and concerned about climate change.

   Merkel's conservatives were unchanged at 24%, a record low.

   The national survey will cast a shadow over a government
   meeting this weekend near Berlin to discuss a planned coal
   exit,pensions, rising housing costs and property tax reforms.

   The SPD, punished by voters who feel the party has lost its
   working-class ethos,has appointed a trio of caretakers beforestarting
   the process to find a permanent replacement forNahles.

   "The SPD has made millions of former voters [politically]
   homeless," said Forsa chief ManfredGuellner. "A lot of those
   former voters would like to give their vote to the SPD, but theycan't
   do so because the SPD for years has been taking care of afew remaining
   members instead of the many voters it lost."

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