Friedrich Merz succeeded Tuesday in his bid to become the next German chancellor during a second vote in parliament, hours after he suffered a historic defeat in the first round.
The conservative leader had been expected to smoothly win the vote to become Germany’s 10th chancellor since World War II. No candidate for chancellor in postwar Germany has failed to win on the first ballot.
Merz received 325 votes in the second ballot.
He needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot but only received 310 votes in the first round — well short of the 328 seats held by his coalition.
Merz had been expected to sail through on the first round of voting to become the 10th chancellor since World War II. He is the first postwar candidate for chancellor who failed to win on the first ballot.
Merz needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes but only got 310 on the first round. Because the first-round vote was a secret ballot, it was not immediately clear — and might never be known — who had defected from Merz's camp.
Merz takes the top job after the government of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed last year and a national election was held in February. Despite his official farewell on Monday, Scholz remained in a caretaker capacity until the new chancellor takes over.
Merz's coalition is led by his center-right Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union. They are joined by Scholz's center-left Social Democrats.
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