Merkel's conservatives to resume talks with SPD on coalition government

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives will resume talks Monday with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) on forming a coalition government after the recent election. The second round of exploratory talks, scheduled to begin at 1400 GMT, may prove to be decisive before Merkel announces later in the week the party with which she will launch formal coalition negotiations. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) have held first rounds of exploratory talks with the SPD and the Greens, the two potential partners. Coalition horse-trading may prove to be difficult and time-consuming due to policy differences, especially on the national legal minimum wage. The SPD has stressed greater social justice and reiterated its plan to introduce a minimum wage of 8.50 euros (11.35 U.S. dollars) per hour. SPD Secretary General Andrea Nahles told the weekly Bild am Sonntag over the weekend the party would reject a coalition with CDU/CSU "without an agreement on a nationwide compulsory minimum wage of 8.50 euros." However, Merkel's party opposes a national minimum wage but supports deals struck by employers and trade unions on an industry or regional basis. The CDU/CSU bloc was the biggest winner in last month's national election, carrying 41.5 percent of the votes, in the federal election in September, while the SPD took 25.7 percent and the Green Party 8.4 percent. Without a majority in parliament, the CDU/CSU must form a coalition to rule the country for the next four years. A grand coalition with the SPD, as in Merkel's 2005-2009 first term, is supported by most Germans, recent polls show. On Tuesday, Merkel will hold a second round of talks with the Greens, who want more efforts on clean energy and greater rights for immigrants. The CDU/CSU and the Greens have never shared power at the national level and there is skepticism from both sides on whether the two parties can bridge their differences.