Germany’s Friedrich Merz falls short in 1st vote for chancellor bid

Merz is seeking to take the helm of the 27-nation European Union’ s most populous member after Scholz’s government collapsed last year and a national election was held in February.

In a historic first, conservative leader Friedrich Merz ’s bid to become Germany’s 10th chancellor since World War II failed by six votes in parliament on Tuesday, a stunning defeat as he had been widely expected to win smoothly.

A candidate for chancellor has never failed to win on the first ballot since the end of the war. The loss triggered a stock market slide: the DAX, the index of major German companies, was down 1.8 per cent following the vote.

Merz needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes. He only received 310 votes — well short of the 328 seats held by his coalition, which is also one of the slimmest postwar majorities. Because the vote was held by secret ballot, it was not immediately clear — and might never be known — who had defected from Merz’s camp.

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 the center-left Social Democrats, outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party. The parties were now to regroup to discuss the next step but it was also unclear how long the process could take.

Merz is seeking to take the helm of the 27-nation European Union’ s most populous member after Scholz’s government collapsed last year and a national election was held in February. Scholz, despite his official farewell on Monday, remains in a caretaker role until a new chancellor takes over.

Germany has the continent’s biggest economy and serves as a diplomatic heavyweight. The new chancellor’s portfolio would include the war in Ukraine and the Trump administration’s trade policy on top of domestic issues, such as Germany’s stagnant economy and the rise of a far-right, anti-immigrant party.

“The world is in turmoil. Europe needs a strong Germany,” Carsten Linnemann, the secretary-general of the Christian Democrats, told reporters after Merz’s loss. He said a second vote should come soon. “We can’t wait for days now, we need clarity quickly.”

The lower house of parliament — called the Bundestag — has 14 days to elect a candidate with an absolute majority. Merz can run again, but other lawmakers can also throw their hat in the ring. There is no limit to the number of votes that can be held within the two-week period.