By Thomas Escritt and Paul Carrel

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Social Democrats were set on Monday to start the process of trying to form a government after they narrowly won their first national election since 2005 to end 16 years of conservative-led rule under Angela Merkel.

According to preliminary results, the centre-left Social Democrats won 25.7%, beating 24.1% for Merkel’s CDU/CSU conservative block. According to provisional results, the Greens placed at 14.8% while liberal Free Democrats (FDP), were at 11.5%.

The Social Democrats’ chancellor candidate, Olaf Scholz https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-leadership-race-boring-olaf-bets-craving-stability-2021-09-21 said he hoped to strike a coalition deal before Christmas, although

his conservative rival Armin Laschet said he could still try to form a government despite coming in second.

Merkel will stay in charge in a caretaker role during the coalition negotiations https://reut.rs/2ZeqYw3 that will set the future course of Europe’s largest economy.

In informal talks, parties will be able to start chatting about possible alliances on Monday.

The SPD will likely seek to form a three-way alliance, with both the Greens, and FDP to ensure a majority in parliament. However, they could be joined by the conservatives.

Scholz (63) would be the fourth chancellor post-war SPD after Helmut Schmidt, Willy Brandt and Gerhard Schroeder if he can form a coalition. He is the former mayor of Hamburg and Finance Minister in Merkel’s Cabinet.

SPD’s rise signals a swing left in Germany. It marks an extraordinary comeback by the party which, having gained some 10 points of support in three months, has improved its 2017 national election result of 20.5% to better.

Laschet (60) still believed he might be chancellor despite leading the conservatives in their worst election results.

COALITION for CHRISTMAS

Merkel is a strong presence on the European scene since 2005 when she took office. That was back in the days of George W. Bush, Jacques Chirac (Paris), and Tony Blair (British prime minister).

However, Berlin’s European allies and others will likely have to wait several months until they see the engagement of the new German government on foreign policy.

If the SPD and FDP agree to a deal, then the Greens may provide the foreign ministry, just as Joschka Fischer did in their two-way alliance. The FDP seeks the finance minister.

The dispute between Washington and Paris regarding Australia’s purchase of U.S. submarines instead of French ones has left Germany in a difficult spot. However, it gives Berlin an opportunity to heal their relations with China and to reevaluate their common position on China.

The U.S. President Joe Biden stated to Washington that the SPD had slightly surpassed them in polls. They are solid.”

They’re solid.” The Greens also want “a massive expansion offensive for renewables https://reut.rs/2T1UKS3”.

It is clear that the Future Government will not contain the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has a score of 10.3%. That’s a decline from their 12.6% vote four years ago. The party is not supported by mainstream politicians.