Bundestag does not elect Merz as chancellor

Conservative leader Friedrich Merz did not receive enough parliamentary votes in a first round vote to be elected chancellor in a major shock on Tuesday, Politico writes.

“Member of Parliament Friedrich Merz did not achieve the required majority of at least 316 votes,” Bundestag President Julia Klöckner announced after the first ballot in a highly unexpected turn of events.

The timing of the second vote is unclear.

Merz was six votes short of being elected by the majority of Germany’s 630 parliamentarians. His coalition, which consists of his own conservative bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), would hold one of the slimmest parliamentary majorities since World War II, with just 52 percent of seats.

The event marks a major embarrassment for the conservative leader. The failure to be elected—even if he ultimately succeeds in second round vote—marks a major setback for the Merz.

On Wednesday, he was expected to travel to Paris and Warsaw to discuss European defense strategy. That trip is now unlikely to happen.

Members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD)—set to become the largest opposition party in parliament—seized the opportunity to hit Merz.

“Merz is damaged, whatever else happens in future,” Bernd Baumann, the AfD’s parliamentary group leader, said Tuesday.

Other candidates can try their luck in two weeks, but they also need to secure 316 votes.

If the elections are not held within 14 days, a new vote is immediately held, in which the person who simply receives the highest number of votes is considered elected.