{"id":150927,"date":"2025-05-06T14:40:58","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T10:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/?p=150927"},"modified":"2025-05-06T15:01:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T11:01:05","slug":"bundestag-does-not-elect-merz-as-chancellor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/politics\/150927\/","title":{"rendered":"Bundestag does not elect Merz as chancellor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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<\/a> writes.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

The timing of the second vote is unclear.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, he was expected to travel to Paris and Warsaw to discuss European defense strategy. That trip is now unlikely to happen.<\/p>\n

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

“Merz is damaged, whatever else happens in future,” Bernd Baumann, the AfD’s parliamentary group leader, said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Other candidates can try their luck in two weeks, but they also need to secure 316 votes.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"