German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has been overtaken in an opinion poll by Angela Merkel, his rival and leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Schroeder got an approval rate of 44 percent in popularity, compared with Merkel's 50 percent, according to the ZDF TV Politbarometer poll released on Friday.

The poll also shows that the CDU and its alliance parties led by Merkel would win 51 percent of votes while the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) and its sister party, the Green Party, can only get 38 percent if elections were held now.

However, TNS Infratest poll released on Friday gave Merkel a 37percent approval rating only in contrast to Schroeder's 41 percent.

Nonetheless the Infratest poll showed that CDU and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), got a support of 53 percent, compared to 36 percent for SPD if elections held now.

Merkel, born in 1954 in the northern city of Hamburg, first came to prominence five years ago during a CDU party fund scandal.

She was the first ally of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl's ally to publicly break up with him, who brought her into the cabinet as minister for women and youth.

Growing up in a rural area outside Berlin, Merkel earned a doctorate in physics but later worked as a chemist at a scientific academy in East Berlin.

In 1990, she joined the CDU two months before the reunification of Germany.

If elected, Merkel would be the first woman chancellor in the country's history.

Schroeder announced on Sunday his party seeks to advance the planned federal elections one year ahead after the SPD suffered a major defeat in a regional vote.

The elections are expected to be held in mid-September.

(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2005)