Angela Merkel’s coalition seemed dangerously close to rupture when her Free Democrat (FDP) partners defied the chancellor and backed an opposition candidate for the German presidency, centre-right coalition sources admitted.

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel may fall short of a majority in her own coalition for a crucial reform of the eurozone rescue fund meant to stop a sovereign debt crisis spreading, in what would be a severe blow to her authority, a test vote has showed.

GERMANY’S two biggest parties edged closer to a ‘grand coalition’ yesterday, as conservative leader Angela Merkel said there was a very strong chance the conservatives and Social Democrats would form a government.

GERMANY’S Greens have agreed to hold talks on forming a new government with Angela Merkel’s conservatives after a leading member of Merkel’s party called a link with the environmentalist group “a realistic option”.

VOTERS plunged Germany into political limbo last night, splitting their ballots between Angela Merkel’s conservatives and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s Social Democrats so closely that both claimed victory.

GERMAN conservative challenger Angela Merkel’s opinion poll lead has shrunk since her TV debate with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and she may not achieve her goal of a centre-right coalition, surveys yesterday showed.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder launched his election campaign today, with an immediate attempt to exploit the conservative opposition’s infighting, to help build on his beleaguered party’s recent rise in opinion polls.