German federal election enters decisive phase

German election campaign entered the final phase with five days to go until the Sunday federal election, as opinion polls indicate a highly suspenseful race with Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition running head-to-head with major opposition parties. A survey released Tuesday by polling institute Forsa showed Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party CSU held steady at 39 percent, while its junior coalition partner the Free Democrats (FDP) lost a point to five percent. This means Merkel's coalition may not reach a combined majority in the election. Should the FDP fail to garner 5 percent minimum support for entering into the lower house of parliament, Merkel may be forced to form a coalition with opposition challenger Peer Steinbrueck's center-left Social Democrats (SPD). The FDP has already failed to reach the 5 percent support required to remain in the state legislature with only 3 percent support in the Bavaria state election last Sunday despite a thumping CSU victory. Analysts said the FDP will benefit from a pity effect as supporters of Merkel's conservatives may cast their votes to the FDP to help the coalition continue to rule another term. However, Merkel warned supporters on Monday that she had no votes to give away even as the FDP launch a fevered bid to get more voters. CDU parliamentary faction leader Volker Kauder also warned that there is no coalition election campaign, adding that "everyone fights for their own votes." The Social Democrats (SPD), the biggest opposition party, held steady at 25 percent in the poll, while the party's favored ally the Greens scored 9 percent. The Forsa poll also showed anti-euro party AfD scored 3 percent, while another poll by Emnid showed the party gained one point to 4 percent. A strong performance of the anti-euro party in the election will make Merkel's center-right coalition more unlikely to retain power. German voters can cast two ballots in the federal election, with the first one choosing a constituency candidate and the other one for the party they support.