Germany's Merz aims to establish new coalition government by mid-April

German election winner Friedrich Merz aims to form a new coalition government within eight weeks and has begun informal preliminary talks, local media reported Monday.

According to Bild newspaper, conservative leader Merz has called the Social Democratic Party's parliamentary group leader Lars Klingbeil on Sunday night, and offered to hold talks quickly to discuss coalition possibilities.

Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) won 28.5% of the vote in Sunday's general election, securing a clear lead over other parties but falling short of an absolute majority in parliament needed to govern alone.

According to media reports, while informal discussions have begun between top party officials to form a coalition government before the Easter holiday (April 20-21), formal exploratory talks were not expected to start before March 6, partly due to regional elections in the northern state of Hamburg this weekend.

Despite receiving only 16.4% of votes—their lowest share in history—the Social Democrats emerged as a potential coalition partner for the Christian Democrats to secure a parliamentary majority. Together, they would command 328 seats in the Bundestag—well above the 316 deputies needed for a majority.

Conservative leader Merz told reporters on Sunday night that the Christian Democrats would not enter into any coalition talks with the far-right AfD party, which placed second with its best-ever result of 20.8%, citing fundamental differences on democratic principles and key policy matters.