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Germany-politics/
Germany Social Democrats: Coalition talks with Merkel could fail =

   Berlin (dpa) - Negotiations between German conservatives headed by
Chancellor Angela Merkel and the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD)
on forming a coalition government could fail, a senior SPD member
warned Wednesday.

   Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and their Bavaria-based
sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), launched coalition
talks with the SPD last month after the conservatives failed to
secure an absolute majority in an election they won in September.

   "One cannot yet say if it's going to work," senior SPD member Ralf
Stegner told dpa. "Two and a half weeks of hard work lay before us."

   Major sticking points in the talks include SPD demands for a
minimum wage, increase spending on social programmes and
infrastructure, easing EU-wide austerity measures and increasing
taxes on top earners.

   The SPD plans to seek approval for any coalition deal with the
conservatives from its 473,000 members in a December ballot. A "yes"
vote will allow Merkel to be sworn in for a third term before
Christmas.

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## dpa Contacts
- Reporting by: Wolfgang Schmidt
- Editing by: Joseph Nasr
Tel: +49 30 2852 31472; <englishservice@dpa.com>

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131137 GMT Nov 13 

