2nd LD: German SPD gives greenlight to formal coalition talks with Merkel's Union

BONN, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Delegates from Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) on Sunday voted in favor of formal coalition talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel-led Conservatives Union.

Among over 600 delegates attending the special congress in Bonn, 362 voted "yes" to further coalition talks with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU), while a total of 279 voted against it.

The decision, which was made after confrontational and emotional debates among delegates, cleared the way to form a renewed Grand Coalition between the SPD and the Union almost four months after the federal elections in which both of the two blocs suffered the worst turnovers since 1949.

The special congress came after the SPD and the Union reached the breakthrough on Jan. 12 in exploratory talks, and the two blocs now will kick off formal coalition negotiations in few days.

SPD's "greenlight" policy also helped Germany avoid snap elections as Merkel said a minority government would not be an option. It is widely expected that snap elections will not address the political crisis but only make the far-right populist Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) stronger.

"We are all relieved.... I am glad that we have the mandate to conduct coalition talks," SPD chairman Martin Schulz told TV channel Phoenix after the vote, saying that his next task is to reunite the party.

"Exploratory talks are not coalition results," said Schulz with Phoenix, who promised in the speech before the vote that although the SPD had achieved a lot in exploratory talks, they will further negotiate with the Union on policies concerning education, health care as well as the family reunification of refugee families.

Schulz also promoted the historic political change in German European politics, putting an end to austerity and towards a stronger common responsibility for Europe.

"For me as a convinced European, this is a historic success," emphasized Schulz. "Without the SPD, there will be no bold momentum for the future of Europe." Enditem