Backing for German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's Social Democratic Party (SPD) is on the rise according to a weekly opinion poll jointly commissioned by Germany's Stern magazine and RTL television. Support for the SPD has risen three percentage points since the middle of March, and now sits at 28 percent, according to the poll of 2,005 voters by market researcher Forsa. The survey, which had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points, was conducted between April 5 and April 8, reported Stern. The opposition Christian Democratic Union saw its own approval rating remain unchanged at 47 percent while the Green Party, the junior partner in Schröder's coalition government, and the opposition Free Democratic Party (FDP) remained on 11 percent and 6 percent respectively. The government's standing in the polls had fallen to record lows following welfare cuts and labor-market reforms which have proved highly unpopular with the electorate. The SPD faces 13 elections at European, regional and local level between June and September this year.