German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats Party (SPD) has floated an unprecedented plan to rotate the top job in a bid to break a political stalemate after last Sunday's inconclusive election results.
The head of an influential SPD group said the party's parliamentary deputies favoured a power-sharing plan with the Christian Democrats (CDU) that would let Mr Schroeder hold office for two years before handing over to the CDU at mid-term.
Several CDU state leaders dismissed the proposal.
A ‘grand coalition’ between Angela Merkel's CDU, their Christian Social Union sister party and the SPD has emerged as a leading option for the next government after the junior partners of both sides rejected offers for complex three-way coalitions.
Mr Schroeder's SPD won 34.3% of the vote, while Ms Merkel's CDU/CSU won 35.2% in the country's most inconclusive post-war election.
The chancellor has insisted he won a mandate to continue after coming from far behind in opinion polls.
