(7 Dec 2017) The leader of Germany's center-left Social Democrats sought his party's support Thursday for opening talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives on extending their governing coalition, or at least backing a minority government.
Martin Schulz, Merkel's defeated challenger in Germany's September 24 election, had insisted that his party would go into opposition after a disastrous result.
He initially reinforced its refusal to join a new coalition after Merkel's talks with two smaller parties collapsed last month. But President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made clear that he doesn't want a new election, and Schulz reversed course.
At a previously scheduled party congress, Schulz sought members' approval for a resolution approving talks on "whether and in what form" the Social Democrats can support a new government.
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