German SPD gives greenlight to formal coalition talks with Merkel

BONN -- Delegates from Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) on Sunday voted in favor of formal coalition talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel-led Conservatives Union.

Among over 600 delegates attending the special congress in Bonn, 362 voted "yes" to further coalition talks with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU), while a total of 279 voted against it.

The "yes" and "no" votes were so close that a recount was held, as the initial show of hands was too close to be called.

The decision, which was made after confrontational and emotional debates among delegates, cleared the way to form a renewed Grand Coalition between the SPD and the Union, almost four months after the federal elections in which both of the two blocs suffered the worst turnovers since 1949.

"We are all relieved.... I am glad that we have the mandate to conduct coalition talks," SPD chairman Martin Schulz told TV channel Phoenix after the vote, saying that his next task is to reunite the party.

"Exploratory talks are not coalition results," said Schulz, who promised in the speech before the vote that although the SPD had achieved a lot in exploratory talks, they will further negotiate with the Union in a bid to make the party more visible.