Angela Merkel, chairman of Germany's Christian Democratic Union, waves to her supporters in Berlin, Sep. 19. Germany's election committee early on Monday confirmed that no party nor alliance won a clear majority in Sunday's election.(Xinhua/AFP photo)

    BEIJING, Sept. 20 -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) yesterday invited rival liberals and conservatives to talks on possible coalition pacts, with the proviso that Schroeder remains chancellor.

    In an outcome with no post-war precedent, both Schroeder and his conservative challenger Angela Merkel claimed the right to form a government by seeking coalition partners.

    As a result, the smaller parties - traditionally the kingmakers in Germany where coalitions are the rule - swiftly became the focus of attention yesterday.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his wife attend SPD's meeting in Berlin. Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) yesterday invited rival liberals and conservatives to talks on possible coalition pacts.

    Preliminary official results for Sunday's election gave Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic alliance (CDU/CSU) 35.2 per cent against 34.3 per cent for Schroeder's Social Democratic Party (SPD).

    The CDU/CSU has gained 225 seats in the Bundestag against 222 for the SPD, according to the election authorities.

    Adding to uncertainty, the final election result could still depend on 219,000 voters in a constituency in Dresden in the east of the country, where voting has been delayed until October 2 as a result of the recent death of a candidate.

    Up to three extra seats could be added to the parliament from Dresden under Germany's complex proportional representation system. This could, in theory, produce a hung parliament.

    SPD Chairman Franz Muentefering said after a meeting of the party executive that he had sent invitations to all Germany's major parties, excluding the new Left Party.

    "We have a responsibility to make clear that we want to rule with Mr Schroeder as chancellor and implement a lot of that which we have undertaken to do," he told reporters.

    Asked if Schroeder's role as chancellor was a precondition for SPD involvement in any coalition, he replied: "Yes. We both made that very clear yesterday evening."

    Merkel, as leader of the party with the highest share of the vote, declared that it was up to her to lead coalition negotiations.

    Standing by her claim of victory, she insisted that she had a "clear mandate" to form a government.

    However, Schroeder ignored that claim and insisted Merkel's result, much weaker than predicted by opinion polls, showed she was not fit to govern.

    Muentefering said he had issued invitations to Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union, their pro-business allies the Free Democrats (FDP), and to the SPD's existing partners, the ecologist Greens. Several leading voices in the SPD made overtures to the FDP to enter a coalition with them and the Greens.Enditem

(Source: China Daily)