Merkel’s party ‘has alienated voters’

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government came under attack yesterday from leaders in her own party as the conservatives fell to a record low in opinion polls amid public anger over rising taxes and stymied reform efforts.

The head of the opposition Free Democrat party, Guido Westerwelle, has predicted Ms Merkel’s nine-month-old grand coalition would collapse well before the next election set for 2009 because of bad blood between the two ruling parties.

“The polling numbers clearly show the CDU (Christian Democratic Union, Ms Merkel’s party) has alienated its own voters,” CDU chairman Joerg Schoenbohm told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

The CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, have fallen to 31% in a weekend ARD TV poll, the lowest support since taking office in November.

Ms Merkel has been under fire over healthcare reform and for backtracking on promises to lower wage costs in order to promote job creation.