Kramp-Karrenbauer ahead of all SPD candidates as German chancellor: poll

BERLIN - In an election for German chancellor, the new CDU party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK) would win by a large margin against all candidates from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), according to the Trendbarometer survey by Forsa institute published on Monday.

Kramp-Karrenbauer from the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) would beat SPD leader Andrea Nahles and her predecessors Martin Schulz and Sigmar Gabriel as well as Finance Minister Olaf Scholz by far, the survey shows. SPD leader Nahles ranks behind several SPD politicians and would only win 12 percent in competition against Kramp-Karrenbauer with 48 percent.

Even among SPD voters, support for the party's candidates is rather low. Only 44 percent of SPD supporters would vote for Schulz, 42 for Gabriel, 52 for Scholz and only 35 percent would vote for SPD leader Nahles. Kramp-Karrenbauer, on the other hand, is not only the most popular among CDU and the Christian Social Union (CSU) supporters, but also among green and liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) voters.

Forsa Director Manfred Guellner said, "in the chancellor question, which is decisive for the outcome of elections, AKK has achieved similarly high approval ratings as Angela Merkel in a very short time."

"The SPD, on the other hand, is experiencing a serious shortage of personnel, as was already the case after Helmut Schmidt's defeat in October 1982, when Social Democrats had to wait 16 years until they were able to reinstate the chancellor," Guellner added.

In the eastern states of Germany, only 8 percent would vote for the SPD. This places the Social Democrats in eastern Germany only in fifth place among German parties. If the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, were elected now, the CDU/CSU would receive 32 percent of the votes and the SPD 15 percent.