FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Support for Germany’s conservative bloc fell by 2 percentage points to 28% within a week, a survey showed on Tuesday after its lead candidate Friedrich Merz used the backing of the far-right to get plans for a migration crackdown through parliament.
Less than three weeks before federal elections, the Forsa poll for RTL/ntv also showed support for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) holding steady at 16%. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was unchanged at 20%.
Merz, running for chancellor on the conservative CDU/CSU alliance’s ticket, last week won parliamentary approval for a proposal to restrict migration with the help of votes from the AfD, breaking a taboo on cooperation with the far-right.
The focus of the campaign has shifted sharply to migration after an Afghan asylum seeker was arrested over deadly stabbings on Jan. 22, which followed other high-profile killings in public spaces by people with an immigrant background.
Merz’s bid to follow up with an additional draft migration law in parliament failed last Friday, when some of his own legislators denied him support.
The Forsa poll was conducted between Jan. 28 and Feb. 3, almost entirely after the first parliamentary vote.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Madeline Chambers)
