German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democratic Party (SPD) gained in three percentage points in an opinion poll released Wednesday, depriving challenger Angela Merkel's opposition alliance of its majority in parliament.

The support rate for the SPD was lifted from 31 percent to 34 percent, according to the weekly magazine/RTL TV poll. The Greens, junior partner of the SPD, stood at 7 percent.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) and its Free Democrats (FDP) dropped from 48 percent, with each party losing one percentage point.

The newly founded Left Party also lost one percentage point to 8 percent, the poll showed.

The change came after Sunday's nationally televised debate between Schroeder and Merkel, which drew a record 20 million viewers nationwide.

Polls following the debate showed that a majority of people said Schroeder won the debate which was held two weeks ahead of Germany's national elections.

(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2005)