Germany's Merkel faces tricky task to build government
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}German Chancellor Angela Merkel is embarking on a complicated quest to form a new government and find answers to the rise of a nationalist, anti-migrant party.
Sunday's election in Europe's biggest economy left Merkel's conservative Union bloc weakened after a campaign that focused squarely on Germany's leader of the past 12 years. However, no other party can lead a new government and Merkel herself lacks any obvious internal challenger.
Merkel's partners since 2013 in a "grand coalition" of Germany's traditionally dominant parties, the center-left Social Democrats, vowed to go into opposition after a heavy defeat.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Caucus leader Thomas Oppermann doubled down on that pledge Monday, saying that "we will not conduct coalition talks, because voters have decided that the Social Democrats' place is in opposition."