CNN
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Germany’s Friedrich Merz has failed to win an initial parliamentary vote that would have confirmed his ascension to chancellor, an unprecedented and unexpected twist that extends political uncertainty for the country.
Merz, who won an election in February and unveiled a ruling coalition last month, fell six short in a vote on Tuesday by lawmakers that had been expected to be a formality.
He is expected to eventually find a path to power, but the result pitches Germany into yet more political chaos. February’s vote started a weeks-long period of politicking and negotiating, during which the country’s establishment was buffeted by attacks from the insurgent far-right AfD party and from the increasingly intrusive Trump administration.
Germans had expected that Tuesday’s parliamentary vote would quell that uncertainty. Instead, it ripped open new problems. Only 310 lawmakers voted to approve Merz, just short of the 316 required. The Bundestag now has two weeks to approve Merz, and the AfD pounced on the setback to call for entirely new elections.
Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won February’s election, but failed to pick up enough seats to govern outright – an outcome that is commonplace in Germany’s diverse political environment.
He last month announced he would form a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), a rare fusing of Germany’s two establishment groups that ensured the AfD – which came second in the February poll – would remain locked out of power.
But Tuesday’s vote reveals deep unhappiness within either or both of those blocks about the deal. Merz had hoped to inject some calm into the country with trips to Paris and Warsaw in the coming days. Now, he will be forced to whip support for a fresh parliamentary vote, expected later this week.
German lawmakers vote secretly, so it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where support for Merz collapsed. But even if he eventually prevails, the vote ensured Merz will start his chancellorship on the back of a monumental embarrassment.
German stocks fell further after Merz failed to be elected, although they later recouped some of those losses. The country’s benchmark DAX index was last 1.1% lower on the day.
“The result of today’s vote serves as a reminder of how narrow the majority of the new coalition is, which further dampens hopes for sweeping economic reforms,” Germany’s Commerzbank said in an economic briefing.
And German economist Holger Schmieding described it as “a bad surprise.”
“The unprecedented failure to be elected in the first round would still be a bad start” for Merz, Schmieding said. “It shows that he cannot fully rely on his two coalition parties.”
