Thai Girl is almost perfect but are these serious problems?

[webfact]

Germany's SPD unchanged in Forsa poll, lag Merkel's conservatives

REUTERS

 

New Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Martin Schulz addresses a news conference at their party headquarters in Berlin, Germany, January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - Support for Germany's Social Democrats is unchanged from a week ago at 31 percent, a poll showed on Wednesday, as their support stagnated after a surge following the nomination last month of Martin Schulz as party leader for September's federal election.

 

Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives remained three points ahead of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), with 34 percent, the Forsa survey for Stern magazine and broadcaster RTL showed.

 

The poll showed Merkel pipping Schulz if there were a direct vote for chancellor, winning by 38 percent to his 37 percent. That result marked a one percentage point rise in support for Merkel from a week ago, with Schulz unchanged.

 

The SPD, Merkel's junior coalition partner, had been trailing the conservatives for years in opinion polls until the nomination of Schulz sparked a revival in support for the party, which last won an election under Gerhard Schroeder in 2002.

 

"In order to succeed Chancellor Merkel, Schulz must now present a convincing programme," Forsa chief Manfred Guellner said.

 

The Forsa put the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) in third place, down one percentage point on the week at 9 percent. The far-left Linke were unchanged on 8 percent and the Greens fell one percentage point to 7 percent.

 

The liberal Free Democrats (FDP) were at 5 percent.

 

Forsa polled 2,502 voters from Feb. 5 to Feb. 10.

 

(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by David Gregorio)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-02-15

[Saradoc1972]

Just a temporary huge sigh of relief about the sad-looking fat dud being gone for good. (Will, for some 9 months make a nuisance of himself in what he seems to think is a cushy job in the foreign ministry, which is going to serve its purpose.)

 

Schulz will not be able to bring about meaningful changes in the relevant time span, SPD will still not assent to even the half-hearted measures CDU has adopted from the oh-so-evil AFD (in Germany, you are evil, racist, and anti-immigration if you propose something the government then enacts 3-6 months later), partly because their Green coalition partners in a dozen of the states will not.