A senior conservative’s participation in Germany’s proposed new left-right government was in doubt today as politicians struggled to digest the implications of a sudden leadership crisis in the centre-left Social Democrats.

Germany’s conservatives are moving toward completing the lineup of Chancellor-designate Angela Merkel’s cabinet, with a key ally preparing to nominate his final choice for the new government.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder today underlined his aim to form a “grand coalition” between his Social Democrats and Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc, but warned it would likely take some time and be difficult.

A leading German conservative today said he was confident the country’s two biggest parties would succeed in forming a governing coalition, but he pressed Angela Merkel’s claim to replace Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Germany’s conservative opposition was today set to nominate Angela Merkel, a Protestant minister's daughter from the former East Germany, as its challenger to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, giving her the chance to become the country’s first female leader.