Poll boost for Schroeder's campaign

Schroeder's opposition to a war on Iraq has boosted his standing at home

BERLIN, Germany -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has taken a lead in opinion polls for the first time this year, boosting his hopes of re-election in next weekend's poll.

In August, Schroeder's SPD was seven points adrift of the opposition Christian Democrats.

But the latest polls put the SPD two to three percentage points ahead of the Christian Democrats and give Schroeder's ruling coalition with the Greens a majority for the first time this year.

The turnaround in his political fortunes has been so dramatic that one German magazine recently asked: "Is God a Social Democrat?"

Schroeder, who is fighting to avoid becoming the first post-war chancellor to be voted out after one term, was due to hold an almost unprecedented joint rally with

CNN NewsPass VIDEO Schroeder defends his stance on Iraq. CNN's Stephanie Halasz reports (September 9) Play video   EXTRA INFORMATION In-depth: Germany Decides 2002  In-depth: Europe on the move

Greens Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer later on Sunday.

While surveys show a majority of Germans no longer expect a change of government, much rests on whether the reformed Communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) makes it back into parliament.

Richard Stoess, political scientist at Berlin's Free University told Reuters: "I wouldn't say it's over yet.

"There is still a part of the electorate, albeit a small part, that is undecided and who won't make up their minds until the last minute."

The recent heavy floods that devastated swathes of Germany, as well as the prospect of a U.S.-led war against Iraq -- which Schroeder opposes -- have helped boost his position.

Until recently, the main election issue was Germany's four million unemployed and the faltering economy, both of which were used by Schroeder's conservative rival Edmund Stoiber to criticise the government.

"What we have seen is an eclipsing of the topics which have determined the political climate for the last half year with the

floods and Iraq," said Joachim Raschke, politics professor at Hamburg University.

"The great advantage of these topics is that they are strongly emotional subjects in contrast to the economic topics which have already been dealt with for a long time."