Reuters
The conservative leader of Germany has surprisingly failed to secure a majority in parliament to be elected chancellor.
Two and a half months after winning Germany's federal elections, Friedrich Merz suffered a serious setback when he only received 310 of the 630 votes required for the Bundestag.
Although his center-left alliance had enough seats in parliament, it seems that 18 members of parliament who were supposed to support him disagreed. It is believed that Merz's defeat in the first vote was unheard of in contemporary German history.
Merz or another contender will now have another 14 days to be chosen as chancellor by the Bundestag.
The number of votes that can be cast is unlimited under the German constitution, although in the end, a candidate may be chosen without an absolute majority if none is obtained.
Political analysts consider Merz's loss to be a humiliation, likely caused by SPD members who signed a coalition agreement with his conservatives on Monday.
Although not all SPD members are pleased with the agreement, Merz will find it challenging to move past the historic nature of his failure. Since 1949, no contender has failed in this manner.
Merz's aspirations to be a remedy for the divisiveness and fragility of the previous government, which fell apart late last year, are weakened by the humiliation of Tuesday's vote.
His failure was seized upon by the far-right party Alternative für Germany, which finished second in the February election with 20.8% of the vote. The vote demonstrated "the weak foundation the small coalition has been built between the [conservatives] and SPD, which was rejected by voters," according to a post on X by joint leader Alice Weidel.
The transfer of power in Germany is meticulously planned. An orchestra from the armed forces performed a traditional Grand Tattoo for outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz on the eve of Monday's vote.
Merz, 69, has long hoped to become German chancellor and was predicted to win the vote before going to see President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to be sworn in.
Angela Merkel, his opponent and former chancellor, had traveled to the Bundestag to observe the voting.
Right now, Merz will have to decide with his coalition allies whether to seek a second vote and risk failing once more.
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