MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A weekly Emnid survey, conducted for the German newspaper Bild between February 23 and March 1, found the center-left SPD lagging 1 percent behind the CDU/CSU bloc with 32 percent of votes.
Support for conservatives rose by 1 percent from last week to 33 percent. The far-right Alternative for Germany came in third with ten percent of votes, while the far-left Linke finished fourth with 8 percent.
The Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats, who formed a grand coalition government over three years ago, have been running neck-and-neck in polls since February.
The SPD briefly pulled ahead by one percent early last month, a historic success that was attributed to the popularity of its new leader, Martin Schulz, as a new face on the German political arena.
