MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The survey, commissioned to TNS Emnid by the Funke Media Group and carried out by the group’s leading newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, showed Merkel was backed by 44 percent of respondents.
The incumbent head of government fared better than her main rivals. She was trailed by Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier who scored 38 percent.
Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the minority partner in the ruling coalition, came third with 26 percent.
Economic Minister Sigmar Gabriel of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the second largest in Germany and a coalition partner of Merkel’s Christian Democrats, scored only 16 percent, while Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen came fifth with 15 percent.
