Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said she is optimistic about her conservative bloc's talks with the Social Democrats to reach a deal to form a government, starting five days of talks on reviving the "grand coalition" that ruled Germany since 2013.
This comes after the failure of talks with two small parties. Merkel expressed optimism about the success of the new talks three months after the election. The Social Democrats announced after the election, which is the worst since 1933, that it would be within the opposition, but this was reviewed.
Martin Schulz, leader of the Social Democrats, said five days of talks were enough to see if there was enough common ground for full coalition talks. It is scheduled that the Party leadership to recommend on Friday to start or not start the talks, after that it will be a party congress to make decision.
Talks between the two sides are expected to continue until at least March, but if exploratory discussions fail, Germany will face either new elections or a minority government for the first time in the postwar period.
