Merkel’s party meets in Berlin, united on ‘grand coalition’

 Berlin (dpa) 27 Nov 2017 - Leaders from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat (CDU) party met for over four hours in Berlin on Sunday, unanimously agreeing to pursue a so-called grand coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) to break the political deadlock in the country.  

Lawmakers were attempting to hash out a way forward after exploratory talks for an untried coalition with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) collapsed last week.  

The failure of the talks last weekend placed the SPD under growing pressure to rejoin the CDU and their Bavaria-based sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), in a grand coalition.  

SPD leader Martin Schulz had previously ruled out another coalition - which would be the third CDU/CSU/SPD coalition under Merkel - after the party received a record low level of support in the September 24 election, but has indicated a softening of this stance in recent days.