German conservatives under the leadership of Friedrich Merz pledged to quickly form a new government after their victory in parliamentary elections.
Having failed to secure the number of MPs he needs to govern alone, Merz will have to cooperate with other parties and sees Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party as the most suitable. Merz hopes to form a new government by April.
"Including the 120 seats of the Social Democrats, we make 328 deputies, enough to form a red-black coalition government. I have full support from the leadership of my party. The talks have been prepared and will start in a few days," said Friedrich Merz, candidate for Chancellor.
The other co-chair of Olaf Scholz's party says at a press conference that everything will be decided by the party structures.
"Whether a government will be formed, whether our party will join it, is not certain. These are decisions that will be taken in the coming weeks and months. However, I made it very clear: the ball is first in Friedrich Merz's court, to approach the Social Democrats, to seek dialogue and to negotiate. Then the members of the Social Democratic party will decide ," said Lars Klingbell, co-leader of the Social Democrats.
But the parties face tough talks to agree on widely divergent proposals to revive an economy that has shrunk in the past two years and ways to curb illegal immigration. Talks between the two parties in the coming weeks will determine whether the Conservatives should extend talks to include the Green Party in a governing coalition.
The Social Democrats came third in the election, behind the far-right Alternative for Germany party, the Greens in fourth place with 11%, and the Linke in fifth place with 8.7%.