The message was clear: This country does not want Mrs. Merkel as chancellor.

Grand coalitions carry risks, … When they don’t work convincingly they can strengthen parties on the fringes.

The carelessness with which we talk about each other and to the media is destroying us.

Two and a half weeks is a good amount of time to get a lot of things moving.

Everything that is recognized as a problem will be taken seriously and handled as such.

Money is short and it’s clear that milk and honey will not flow, but there will still be healthy bread and decent jam,

They are starting to panic,

It is clear that Germans do not want Mrs Merkel as their chancellor. We have a responsibility to make clear that we want to rule with Mr Schroeder as chancellor and implement much of that...

There has to be fair cooperation. We are equals and that will also be true in this coalition if it comes about.

After the sounding-out meeting, and after the by-election in Dresden, it will be decided whether we can go on to negotiations with the conservatives, … All the jostling and speculation are not helpful now.

They are starting to panic. They’re seeing that the voters are turning away from Merkel.

It is not based on the realities of Germany but rather refuses to face these realities.

We still have a lot of important issues to discuss. In healthcare there is no middle ground between our positions.

We are for Gerhard Schroeder becoming chancellor, but we will talk about the whole constellation in our negotiations.

We don’t dispute that unified parliamentary groups can exist, but it must be clear that coalition talks are conducted by individual parties.

We have seven more minutes to score two goals. Talking about who will shower with whom after the game or who will play next time is nonsense.

It is better to participate in government with the strength we have than to be without influence in opposition. Let’s do it, … What we have here is not a program of market radicalism and...

We are going into this debate with the political claim to implement as much as possible of our manifesto and to ensure that Gerhard Schroeder remains the chancellor of Germany.

It is possible that we can still do it, that Gerhard Schroeder can be chancellor again.

We are confident that we will be able to win people over with Gerhard Schroeder at the helm,

Naturally, this was not easy for us, but we see the need to do something here.

In three weeks the government will be stable.

We focused on issues, but made it clear that we in the SPD want to govern this nation with Gerhard Schroeder as chancellor.

It is clear that Germans do not want Mrs. Merkel as their chancellor.

If one makes demands of the country, those whose bank accounts are stronger must also contribute their fair share.

a stable government for this country, as quickly as possible. A government led by Gerhard Schroeder.

We will only agree to other tax increases in the talks if people with higher incomes are taxed more heavily.

None of us were prepared for a grand coalition. There was quite a lot to get over, and that’s what we did in the past few weeks.

We held exploratory talks, we discussed policy. All personnel questions still need to be clarified, but we did not discuss them today.

a better chance to judge whether this configuration has any prospects.

Compromises had to be made, including the division of the ministries. I think we come out of this initial round of talks looking very successful.

We will include the fact that we consider that to be the likely target age in our agreement on a coalition government.

The great challenge of the next years will be fighting unemployment, so this coalition has to do everything to make sure the competitiveness of the economy is OK, that there is growth and that unemployment...

We will talk to all the parties, with the exception of the Left Party.

We are ready to begin full talks for a grand coalition.

Under these conditions I cannot remain party chairman.

We made it clear we want to govern with Schroeder as chancellor,

This is a personal defeat for Merkel!

I can no longer be party chairman under these conditions. I left my decision open as to whether I will belong to the cabinet after the next party congress.

I believe that even when one thing or another has happened, the desire to continue with this coalition remains unchanged.

However secure the common faction may be, it must also be clear that coalition talks are led by parties … and that that has consequences.

The Dresden results will not change anything.