German conservatives will hold talks with the liberal FDP and the Greens parties in the hope of starting coalition negotiations, CDU Secretary General Paul Ziemiak announces. The parliamentary elections saw the Social Democratic Party (SPD) slightly ahead of the conservative CDU/CSU with 25.7% of the vote. For their part, the Social Democrats reiterated their call for the rapid formation of a coalition with the Greens and the FDP, both of which gained 14.8% and 11.5% of the vote respectively. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES