Germany’s Social Democrats, who narrowly won Sunday’s national election ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, said on Tuesday they hoped to talk to the Greens and Free Democrats later this week about forming a three-way government. The Greens and the liberal FDP, who are far apart on many issues, have said they will first consult withone other about possible areas of compromise before starting negotiations with either the Social Democrats (SPD) or the conservatives. Markus Soeder, leader of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU), the sister party to Laschet’s Christian Democrats (CDU), said there was only a small possibility that the SPD would not manage to form a government. “Olaf Scholz currently has the best chance of becoming chancellor,” Soeder said, though adding that the CDU and CSU had still made plans for talks with the Greens and FDP. SPD parliamentary party leader Rolf Muetzenich said he welcomed the initiative of the two smaller parties to smooth out their differences, but he still wanted to talk this week to the potential partners in a three-way coalition. “It would be good if the Greens and the FDP would also concentrate on meeting with us this week for exploratory talks,” Muetzenich told national radio station Deutschlandfunk.