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Cultura

Large majority of CDU members happy with Merkel as leader


    BERLIN (Reuters) - An overwhelming majority of conservative CDU members are happy with Angela Merkel as their party leader and want her to stand as chancellor again in the 2017 federal elections, a poll showed on Wednesday.

    The Forsa poll of 1,012 CDU party members showed 82 percent were happy with Merkel's work, while 81 percent wanted her to stay on as leader from 2017.

    Popular support for Merkel's conservatives has slipped in recent weeks over worries about an influx of refugees, while the chancellor has been criticised within her own party over how she has handled the crisis.

    The poll was conducted between Oct. 12 and Oct. 15 for German magazine Stern.

    (Reporting by Madeline Chambers and Caroline Copley)