BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her conservative Bavarian allies meet the leader of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) on Wednesday to start exploring the possibility of governing together.
The two groups have ruled in a 'grand coalition' for the last four years, but the SPD had vowed to go into opposition after voters rewarded it with its worst-ever post-war election result. The collapse of talks on a three-way coalition forced the SPD to re-consider in the interests of political stability.