The former president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz has overtaken Chancellor Angela Merkel in a recent poll, as reported by Deutsche Welle. German Federal Elections are scheduled for Sept. 24; the survey indicates that if direct elections were held now, Schulz would receive 16 percent more than his opponent, Merkel under the CSU.Chancellor Merkel's party, the Christian Democratic Union, has been steadily losing support throughout the migrant crisis and took another blow after the Berlin truck attack on Christmas Eve.According to the survey, Schulz scores 16 points higher at 50 percent compared to Merkel at 34 percent. The poll seems to confirm Schulz's leftist Social-Democratic Union (SPD) general gains.However, German voters do not vote for the chancellor directly. Currently, Merkel's CSU remains the strongest party in Germany with 34 percent (down 3 percent since January), while the SPD has just 28 percent. Political disenfranchisement is evident.However, 50 percent of all participants support the idea of the SPD leading the Federal Government, while 39 percent want a continuation of a CSU government.The AfD (Alternative for Germany) under Frauke Petry has made significant gains in the past year considering the party is just two years old and holds anti-immigration agendas that are viewed as hostile and far right by every other party in Germany. However, according to this poll, the AfD has lost 3 percent of its support since Jan. 15.Far-left parties - Die Linke (The Left) and Die Grünen (The Greens) - are head to head at 8 percent each.A minimum of 5 percent support is required to enter the German Bundestag (parliament).