Related: Merkel confident over coalition

    BERLIN, Nov. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Germany's planned grand coalition appeared to be in crisis on Tuesday after two heavyweights pulled out of the planned cabinet.

    Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber, who was slated to be minister of economy, has decided against joining in the planned cabinet following Social Democrat (SPD) leader Franz Muentefering's Monday decision to step aside, party sources confirmed to the German news agency DPA on Tuesday.

    Stoiber, a member of chancellor-designate Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic alliance (CDU/CSU), maintains that Muentefering's departure has totally changed the policies of the SPD, which is negotiating a grand coalition with the CDU/CSU alliance, according to the report.

    Muentefering, who was designated to be labor minister and vice chancellor, resigned after the party executive rejected his candidate for the post of the SPD secretary general.

    However, Muentefering insisted that he would continue to head the SPD delegation at grand coalition talks with Merkel's CDU/CSU alliance, but would not seek reelection at a party congress in November.

    Without Stoiber and Muentefering, who were seen as anchors of the planned coalition, the efforts to form a grand coalition was plunged into crisis.

    German newspaper Die Welt said that Merkel's government was not even in office yet, but it had already run into crisis."

    "Everything is now possible, even new elections which none of the big parties wants," the paper said.

    Another newspaper, The Rheinische Post, said Merkel's CDU/CSU alliance is pondering new elections and has already chosen March 26 as a target date. Enditem