A new poll of German voters released today shows that the center-right opposition bloc maintains a solid lead but points to potentially complicated coalition options for its leader Friedrich Merz, DPA reported, BTA reports.
According to the INSA Institute poll commissioned by the "Bild" newspaper, Merz's Christian Democrats and the Bavarian Christian Social Union enjoy 30% support.
Support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party has fallen by one point to 21%. Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats remain third with 15%, followed by the Greens with 13%.
The split in the vote could complicate the distribution of seats in the Bundestag. With all other parties refusing to work with the "Alternative for Germany", Merz will likely have to form a coalition with two partners. Neither the Social Democrats nor the Greens would provide him with a majority on their own.
Such a scenario would almost certainly lead to difficult coalition negotiations, with Merz remaining the favorite to succeed Scholz.
The survey was conducted on February 18 and 19 among 2,502 German voters, with a margin of error of 2.9 points.