SPD party leader: forming government with Germany's conservatives not a given

Feb 24 (Reuters) - The co-leader of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) said the party will consider carefully and not join by default any government coalition under the leadership of rival Friedrich Merz, whose conservative party alliance won national elections on Sunday.

The SPD is Merz's only prospective partner for a government that commands an outright majority in the lower house of parliament because he has ruled out working with the far-right AfD.

"The ball is in Friedrich Merz's court. Only the course of any talks will show whether a government can be formed," Lars Klingbeil, the co-leader of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD, said during a press conference.