UPDATE - Merkel begins coalition talks with Social Democrats

ADDS STATEMENTS AFTER MEETING, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel began coalition talks with her center-left rivals Wednesday amid growing pressure to end a political deadlock since September's election.

Merkel and senior figures from her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc met with Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Martin Schulz in the evening to discuss the possibility of forming another “grand coalition”.

Following their two-and-a-half-hour meeting at the German parliament, the conservative leaders announced they were ready to begin exploratory negotiations.

“The representatives of the CDU and CSU have made it clear that they want to enter exploratory talks with the SPD with the goal of forming a stable government,” they said in a joint statement, adding that the SPD leader would consult senior party officials on future steps.

The SPD’s executive committee was scheduled to meet Friday to decide whether to continue talks with Merkel’s conservatives.

In case of a positive decision, exploratory negotiations were not expected to start before January.

Merkel’s CDU and its sister party CSU emerged as the largest bloc in the Bundestag following September’s federal election, but they failed to secure an absolute majority.

Coalition talks between the conservative bloc, the Free Democratic Party and the Greens failed last month after weeks of negotiations.

The SPD’s party conference last week gave the go-ahead for preliminary coalition talks with Merkel’s CDU/CSU bloc after eight hours of heated debate.

SPD’s Schulz promised delegates that preliminary talks would be conducted in an "open-ended” way and would not necessarily mean that Social Democrats would become part of a coalition government.

Schulz previously opposed a repetition of the “grand coalition” of the previous term, blaming it for his party's losses in the Sept. 24 election.

Both the SPD and CDU/CSU emerged weakened in September's poll, and many in the SPD have blamed their poor showing on the party's membership in the previous coalition.

Although Merkel's bloc is still the biggest group in parliament, it needs the support of either the SPD, which is the second-largest group in the Bundestag, or two smaller parties to form a government.