An unexpected defeat in a historical first, conservative guide Friedrich Merz ‘offer, Germany’s 10th Chancellor since the Second World War on Tuesday in parliament in parliament.
A candidate for Chancellor has never failed to win the first ballot since the end of the war. The loss triggered a stock market slide: the Dax, the index of the big German companies, decreased by 1.8 percent after the vote.
Merz needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes. He only received 310 votes – shortly before the 328 seats of his coalition, which is already one of the slimest majorities after the war.
Merz ‘coalition, which was founded after a election in February, is led by his Central-Light Christian Democratic Union (CDU). They are accompanied by the Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union and the Social Democrats of the Center links, the outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party.
When 307 voted against Merz, nine legislators abstained, said Julia Kloeckner, President of the German House of Commons in Parliament, the Bundestag.
The Bundestag has 14 days to choose a candidate with an absolute majority. And another vote was planned for Tuesday afternoon.
Scholz stays in a caretaker role until a new chancellor takes over.
“An annoying process”
The setback will take part in a variety of peaks next month, in which the European Union in Brussels, NATO in the Hague, the Netherlands, and the Canadian G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta, were organized between June 15.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institutes, Germany is the second largest provider for Ukraine after the United States.
“The world is in turmoil. Europe needs a strong Germany,” said Carsten Linnemann, general secretary of the Christian Democrats, reporters to Merz ‘. He said a second voice should come soon.
“We can hardly wait now, we quickly need clarity.”
Germany has the largest economy of the continent and serves as a diplomatic heavyweight. The portfolio of the new Chancellor would include the war in Ukraine and Donald Trump’s trade policy in addition to the domestic issues such as the Germany’s stagnating economy and the rise of a right-wing extremist anti-immigrant party.
Merz surprisingly stumped comments about the state of the relationship with the United States after the election in February and said: “It is clear that the Americans, at least this part of the Americans, largely indifferently indifferent to the fate of Europe.”
In addition to increasing defense spending, the coalition of Merz has undertaken to promote economic growth, to pursue a harder approach to migration and to catch up with the long -term modernization.
Merz can run again, but other legislators can also throw their hats into the ring. The number of votes that can be kept within the two -week period is not a limit.
If Merz or another candidate does not get this majority within the 14 days, the constitution allows the president to appoint the candidate, who wins most votes as a chancellor or dissolves the Bundestag and withstands a new national election.
Johann WadePhul, the next foreign minister, said he was confident that Merz would ultimately prevail.
“It is an annoying process, but in a parliamentary democracy, in a liberal country this is unfortunately one of the scenarios for which you have to be prepared,” he told reporters.
The exit surveys on Sunday in Germany show the opposition manager Friedrich Merz ‘Christian Democratic Union and her Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, were up to date for a victory in a national election. In the meantime, Alternative for Germany (AfD) almost doubled its support, the strongest performance for a right -wing extremist party since World War II. Regardless of whether Merz needs one or two partners to form a coalition, it depends on how many parties get into parliament.
Volker Resing, who wrote the latest biography Friedrich Merz: His path to powerSurprisingly pressed the events.
“It shows how fragile the coalition’s situation is and that some legislators are willing to spread uncertainty – that is a warning signal,” Resing told the Associated Press.
Reseg said that if Merz is chosen in the second round, everything will be fine and people will soon forget this hiccup. But “everything is open at the moment,” he added.
Right-wing extremist AfD pans ‘weak’ coalition
Alice Weidel, co-director of the right-wing extremist anti-immigrant alternative for the German party, convicted Merz ‘failure to prove that his coalition has a “weak foundation”.
AfD is the largest opposition party in the new parliament of new parliament after taking second place in the elections in February. Despite its historical profits, it was excluded from coalition talks due to the so-called “Firewall” that the German mainstream-political parties have confirmed against working with right-wing extremists since the end of the war.
Last week, the German domestic information service said that it classified AfD as a “right -wing extremist” organization, which makes him a greater and wider surveillance.
The measure of the domestic intelligence service is not a ban on the party, which can only be carried out by an application by one of the two chambers of the parliament or the federal government by the Federal Constitutional Court.
Merz has not publicly commented on the decision of the intelligence service.
The US government has repeatedly beat up Germany since Trump’s inauguration in January. Trump, who has German roots, had often expressed his aversion to former Chancellor Angela Merkel, who headed the CDU during his first term.
The US Vice President JD Vance handed over the “Firewall” during the Munich Security Conference in February and later met with Weidel instead of the German leader Scholz.
Trump also organized Ally Elon Musk a chat with Weidel that he led to X at the beginning of this year to strengthen her party’s message.
