The top-candidates of the Green Party (Die Gruenen) Katrin Goering-Eckardt (L) and Juergen Trittin attend a meeting of party leaders in Berlin September 23, 2013, the day after the German general election. German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces the daunting prospect of persuading her centre-left rivals to keep her in power after her conservatives notched up their best election result in more than two decades but fell short of an absolute majority. REUTERS/Thomas Peter (GERMANY - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS)