Germany's 2 biggest parties to start formal coalition talks over new government next week

Published January 13, 2015

Germany's Social Democrats have approved formal coalition talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives in order to form a new government.

The negotiations between the country's two biggest parties will begin on Wednesday.

Merkel's conservatives won a Sept. 22 parliamentary election, but their last coalition partner, the Free Democrats, lost all seats. Short of an absolute majority, Merkel's party reached out to its traditional center-left rivals for a new partner.

The German news agency dpa said the Social Democrats approved coalition talks at a party convention in Berlin on Sunday, but said its conditions include a demand for the country's first mandatory minimum wage — something many conservatives oppose.

Merkel led a coalition with the Social Democrats in her first term, from 2005 to 2009.

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