German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats rose to their highest poll rating in over a year while the opposition conservatives continue to fall in popularity, a survey released Wednesday showed. Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) would currently win 31 per cent of the vote and thus still trail the Christian Democratic alliance (CDU/CSU) who are now at 39 per cent, said the weekly Forsa poll for Stern magazine and RTL TV. Nevertheless, the figures underline both the ongoing SPD recovery and slow CDU/CSU decline from early this year when the Chancellor's party crashed to record lows of just over 20 per cent and the conservatives were coasting at 50 per cent. "This is (the SPD's) highest rating since July 2003," said Stern. The development comes as opposition to Schroeder's controversial cuts to unemployment benefits are fading and amid bitter infighting among CDU/CSU leaders over issues ranging from healthcare to allowing Turkey join the European Union. Schroeder's Greens coalition partner would currently win 11 per cent and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) would take 8 per cent/ This would not give the CDU/CSU and FDP enough votes to form a parliamentary majority. Germany's next general election is due in 2006. The Forsa poll surveyed 2,503 voters from October 4-8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
