Germany's former Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier appealed to the emotions of his center-left opposition party on Saturday, Sept 15, with an attack on Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition and a vow to win back power in next year's election, according to Reuters.

Steinmeier, one of three Social Democrat (SPD) leaders jostling to lead the party into the 2013 election, delivered an uncharacteristically rousing speech to 700 SPD officials at a conference, in what sounded like an audition for the top job.

"We're going to fight to win, not for second place," Steinmeier said, dismissing suspicions the SPD would be content as junior partner in another grand coalition with Merkel's conservatives. "We want to lead in a coalition with the Greens, a coalition that will point Germany towards the future."

The SPD will pick a candidate in January to run against Merkel in the election due in September 2013. Steinmeier leads the pack, ahead of SPD Chairman Sigmar Gabriel and ex-Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck.

"The country is in agony with this coalition," he told the SPD's "Zukunftskongress", or conference on the future.

"Wherever you look they're fighting each other. This coalition has been together for three years but they still haven't formed a working government. They're blowing the headstart for Germany we created for them."