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Merkel, Steinmeier make final pitches
Germany goes to polls today with all surveys pointing to the re-election of chancellor.
- Bloomberg
- Published: 22:53 September 26, 2009
Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier made their final appeals before today's election, as polls show her bid to form a coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats in jeopardy.
Merkel returned to the campaign trail after a 48-hour break to attend the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh, heading straight to her closing rally at a Berlin concert hall, where she called on supporters to spur turnout. Steinmeier, the Social Democratic foreign minister, stumped in the eastern city of Dresden before winding up in his hometown of Detmold.
While all surveys show Germany's first female chancellor headed for re-election, the latest Forsa poll showed support for her favoured coalition with the Free Democrats sliding to 47 per cent, the lowest since October last year. At least a quarter of the electorate remains undecided, the poll showed.
"The election is too close to call," Gary Smith, director of the American Academy in Berlin, a trans-Atlantic research institute, said in an interview.
"We might end up with another not-so-grand coalition, which will be in a way deeply problematic for both parties."
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