Merkel, Schulz to hold exploratory meeting on new coalition

Berlin (dpa) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Social Democrat (SPD) leader Martin Schulz are due to hold their first meeting on Wednesday in an effort to pave the way for coalition talks between their parties.Both Merkel‘s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the SPD recorded huge losses in the September national elections, prompting the SPD to vow to go into opposition, but the collapse of talks between Merkel‘s bloc and two smaller parties made Schulz reassess his stance.Wednesday‘s meeting is due to be attended by Merkel, Horst Seehofer - the head of her Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) - Schulz, as well as both parties‘ parliamentary group leaders.It is expected to be followed on Friday by a decision by the SPD leadership on whether to commence formal negotiations in January. Schulz has come under fire for his suggestion that instead of repeating their grand coalition, his SPD and the CDU should form a looser alliance what would allow the centre-left party to dissent on some issues and work with the opposition.Talks between Merkel‘s conservative CDU-CSU bloc, the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) collapsed unexpectedly several weeks ago, leaving the SPD as the only viable candidate with which to achieve a majority in parliament. The CDU-CSU could also form a minority government, but Merkel has argued in favour of a stable coalition in light of far-right electoral gains in Germany and instability in the European Union.