Germany's ruling Social Democrats (SPD) will start their final election campaign push next Monday, two weeks early, in a last-ditch attempt to turn around their slumping popularity.
The surprise move came a day after leading German polling organisations agreed that the government hasn't a chance of being re-elected in September's general election.
"The opinion polls do not leave us cold. But we have decided to draw our own conclusions," said Mr Franz Münterfering, the SPD party chairman yesterday.
He said the SPD's re-election campaign will have a low-key launch next Monday in Hanover, Mr Schröder's home town, rather than at a rally in Berlin on August 23rd.
Chancellor Schröder made the decision to bring forward the campaign start shortly after Ms Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, head of the Allensbach polling organisation, told Bild newspaper that "the election has already been decided".
"There is a swing away from Mr Schröder in favour of Mr Edmund Stoiber," she said.
New polls on Friday showed the SPD with just 35 per cent, while Mr Schröder's popularity fell 6 per cent in the space of a month to 48 per cent.
The poll showed that, for the first time in four years, the Christian Democrats (CDU) have enough support to form a coalition with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
Mr Schröder's domestic problems will be on his mind at tomorrow's meeting with the French president, Mr Jacques Chirac.
The two leaders plan to lay out a timetable to resolve disagreement and agree a common position on how to finance the EU's future agriculture policies.
This meeting, which is taking place in the northern city of Schwerin, will be the first since the French elections and the first meeting to be attended by the new French prime minister, Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
