BERLIN, June 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Germany's conservative Christian Democratic alliance (CDU/CSU) led far ahead of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democratic Party (SPD), said a latest poll released on Wednesday.

    The Stern magazine /RTL TV poll said that the CDU/CSU alliance, led by Angela Merkel, got 49 percent of support, while the SPD grasped only 28 percent.

    The outcome of the survey would give the CDU/CSU an absolute majority in the Bundestag, lower house of the parliament.

    The poll predicted that a potential center-right German government would have a firm majority of 55 percent with Merkel's Free Democratic (FDP) ally.

    As many as 56 percent of the 2,504 questionees rejected calls by SPD leftists to make changes to Schroeder's economic reforms, while 37 percent favored them, the poll showed.

    Due to unpopular economic reforms, including welfare and tax cuts, and a high unemployment rate of around 12 percent, Schroeder's SPD was defeated by the CDU in the key North Rhine-Westphalia state elections on May 22, ending a consistent 39-year rule by the party in the state.

    On the same day, Schroeder surprisingly announced early general elections.

    Almost all polls done after the announcement show that the CDU leads over the SPD.

    This poll has an error margin of around 2.5 percentage points. Enditem