BERLIN, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel would not step down in case that her CDU party see a negative result in Hesse's upcoming state election, the German Press Agency (DPA) reported on Sunday.
"I am not a spokesman for Mrs Merkel, but (she) has told the public that she has been elected for the entire legislative period," DPA cited German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz as saying at an event in Hamburg.
There has been speculation as to whether the possible collapse of the CDU-led government in Hesse could change Merkel's plan to stand again as CDU chief at the party congress in December, according to DPA.
Merkel is widely expected to brace for another hit as polls have shown a severe setback for her on Sunday's state election in Hesse.
The regional vote could push the German government into a fresh crisis, since the political coalition at the federal level, joined by Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), is already shaky.
In the most recent poll on Hessian voter preference made by Infratest Dimap, the CDU snagged 26 percent, a sharp decline from the 38.3 percent five years ago, and the SPD at 21 percent, also downed from 30.7 percent.
The centrist Greens is projected at 20 percent and the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) is at 12 percent.
If the polls were accurate, CDU will have to draw another party to the current CDU and Green alliance state government in order to secure a majority.
The result means that the CDU's influence will be further diluted and the CDU's state premier Volker Bouffier, seen as a close ally of Merkel, will possibly be toppled.
