Germany's SPD warns forming a government could take until January BERLIN (Reuters) - Forming a new German government could take until January, warned a senior member of the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) on Monday, adding that her party - which holds preliminary talks with Angela Merkel's conservatives on Friday - won't be rushed. The chancellor is searching for a new coalition partner, after falling just short of an absolute majority in an election on September 22, but faces difficult and protracted negotiations with a cautious opposition. "No one can say when we might get to the point where a government can be formed -- it could be December or January," SPD General Secretary Andrea Nahles told a news conference. We won't be rushed. The center-left party agreed last week to put any decision to enter a grand coalition with Merkel to a poll of its members. Countering hopes that this could come before the SPD's annual congress in mid-November, Nahles said it could take longer. Reporting by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Stephen Brown