Mrs Merkel has already surpassed her own self-imposed deadline of Friday to agree a coalition Government with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and environmentalist Greens.
With no majority in parliament, due largely to her previous coalition partners the Social Democratic Party (SPD) refusing to enter a power sharing deal, Mrs Merkel yesterday said she would prefer another election over running a minority government.
It has cast some doubt over whether Mrs Merkel, Europe’s most powerful leader after 12 years in office, will serve a fourth term, despite winning the most seats in the September 24 election.
Panicking political leaders are now appealing to political parties to decide whether they can form a stable government, fearing their future as a EU giant is under threat.
Mrs Merkel’s right-hand man Peter Altmaier, who is head of the chancellery and acting finance minister, told ZDF television: “We must be in a situation in next three weeks where there is clarity about whether there can be a stable government on the basis of this election result.”
He said it was clear that his conservatives had a mandate to govern and that the parties should support President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s appeal to parties to take responsibility and come together to form a government.
Mr Steinmeier is meeting leaders of the main parties this week, including the Greens and FDP later on Tuesday.
Mr Altmaier said: “We stand by our responsibility to ensure this country has a stable and reliable government.
“Like ‘Made in Germany’, we are known for having a stable and reliable government.”
He made a thinly veiled appeal to the Social Democrats (SPD) to rethink their refusal to form a government with Merkel after voters punished them for sharing power with her for four years.
He added: “We must give the SPD a chance to think (about what responsibility they have).”
Until a government is agreed, Mrs Merkel continues as acting chancellor and her previous ministers, including the SPD ones, remain in post.
Andrea Nahles, head of the SPD’s parliamentary group reiterated that it did not want to prop up Merkel with another “grand coalition”.
She said: “We are not an emergency stop-gap for Merkel.”
However, she said the SPD would use the talks with Steinmeier to try to find future solutions.
She added: “We should talk about how we form a process that leads our country into a new, stable government.”