Merkel rivals signal tough bargaining on German coalition


German Chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Union ( CDU) Angela Merkel, gestures during a news conference after a CDU party board meeting in Berlin September 23, 2013, the day after the general election. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel's centre-left opponents took tough bargaining positions on Wednesday for the political poker game that follows her German election victory, with the Social Democrats and Greens feigning no interest in forming a coalition with her.

The conservative chancellor fell just short of an absolute majority on Sunday, meaning she has to form a government with one of three other parties who made it into parliament.

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