German parties in preliminary coalition talks to form new government

BERLIN (AA) - Germany’s Social Democrats and their rival Christian Democrats will hold separate talks with other parties on Sunday to discuss coalition government options, party officials said on Thursday.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD), which narrowly won the elections ahead of Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU), will first hold a meeting with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and then the environmentalist Greens party on Sunday.

On the same day, conservative leader Armin Laschet is scheduled to meet with top officials of the Free Democrats. Laschet and his team will meet with co-chairs of the Greens on Tuesday, the CDU’s Secretary General Paul Ziemiak told reporters in Berlin.

The SPD narrowly defeated conservative CDU/CSU bloc in Sunday’s national elections but fell short of a parliamentary majority, and results showed the country may face months of negotiations between parties to form a coalition government.

While the liberal FDP came fourth in the elections, it emerged as a kingmaker, with major coalition scenarios now depend on the party’s decision.

The leaders of the SPD and Greens have already said that they would like to form a three-way coalition government with the FDP, but the Free Democrats want to keep all options open.

The Greens and Free Democrats will meet on Friday for exploratory talks to see whether they can bridge their differences on minimum wage, climate protection goals and tax policy.