Some 37 percent of the Germans surveyed by pollster Infratest dimap for broadcaster ARD said that the positions of Merkel’s CDU party are too conservative.
Another 15 percent said the party was right on with its policies, while 32 percent said they weren’t conservative enough.
Among CDU members themselves, 33 percent said the party was not conservative enough, while 20 percent said they had veered too far to the right.
The survey comes at a time where many Christian Democrats have publicly voiced concerns that the party has lost its conservative edge under Merkel.
While the poll shows a possible disconnect between the CDU and voters, the Green party appears to be emerging as a growing force in German politics.
If federal elections were to be held on Sunday, the Greens would rake in a record number of votes. According to the ARD poll, 18 percent of the participants said they would vote for them, their highest support level ever in the survey.
Along with the centre-left Social Democrats, who won the support of 29 percent of participants, the two parties would have just enough support to form a ruling government coalition, ousting Merkel’s coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats.
DAPD/DPA/ka
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