Merkel, SPD leader agreed to start talks to solve political impasse

BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel, her Bavarian ally Horst Seehofer and SPD leader Martin Schulz agreed during a meeting late on Thursday to enter talks to find a way out of the political impasse, a party official said on Friday.

The three party leaders discussed various options for forming a government, including a Merkel-led minority government, but they voiced skepticism about this option, said the party official who spoke on the condition of anonymity and on the condition the party not be named.

Merkel is casting around for a coalition partner after her centre-right bloc shed support to the far right in a Sept. 24 election and her attempts to form a three-way tie-up with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens failed.