Germany's leading conservative party has fallen short of the majority of parliamentary seats needed to form a new government to replace Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder following elections Sunday.

The results left neither Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats nor Schroeder's Social Democrats in a good position to assemble a ruling coalition.

If the new parliament cannot elect a chancellor in three attempts, President Horst Koehler could appoint a minority government led by the candidate with a simple majority, AP said.

Schroeder argued Sunday that voters refused to grant Merkel a mandate to lead the country.

According to preliminary results from 298 of 299 districts, it won 35.2 percent. That gives it 225 seats in the 598-seat Bundestag, Germany's parliament -- a lower-than-expected number that makes it difficult to form a center-right coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats, who won 9.8 percent of the vote.

Schroeder's Social Democrats won 222 seats with 34.3 percent of the popular vote. The Free Democrats claimed 61 seats; Schroeder's current coalition partners, the Greens, won 8.1 percent of the vote and 51 seats; the upstart Left party won 8.7 percent, which worked out to 54 seats.

Voting in the final district, in the eastern city of Dresden, has been delayed until October 2.