Over 60% Of Germans Want Laschet's Resignation As CDU Leader After Party's Defeat - Poll

Sixty-two percent of Germans want Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) leader Armin Laschet to step down following the defeat of the party in the federal legislative elections, a poll conducted by the Forsa group for the national RTL and N-TV broadcasters showed

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2021) Sixty-two percent of Germans want Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) leader Armin Laschet to step down following the defeat of the party in the Federal legislative elections, a poll conducted by the Forsa group for the national RTL and N-TV broadcasters showed.

Laschet was nominated as a federal chancellor candidate by the ruling CDU/CSU bloc at the elections that took place on Sunday and resulted in the victory of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) with 25.7% of the vote, according to preliminary results.

More than half of respondents think that CDU/CSU misfired, picking Laschet as its candidate in the vote. Had the block nominated Markus Soder, the head of the Bavarian branch of the Christian Social Union (CSU), then 11% of those who have voted for other parties would have voted for CDU/CSU, the poll showed.

This means that the CDU/CSU bloc with Soder at helm could have received over 30% of votes against the 24.1% that it actually received.

The opinion poll was carried out late on Sunday, right after the preliminary results were out, and involved 5,508 respondents.

The parties will now begin negotiations to form a coalition. The SPD is projected to have the largest faction with 206 seats, followed by CDU/CSU with 196 seats and the Greens with 118 seats. The liberal Free Democratic Party will likely win 92 mandates, followed by the far-right Alternative for Germany with 83 and the Left with 39.

On Monday, Laschet said he was ready to concede defeat and admitted the unsatisfactory result.