Germany: Merz Fails To Secure Majority in First Round Vote
DW
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Friedrich Merz has been dealt a major setback as he failed to garner the votes required to be chancellor in the first round of voting. It wasn't initially clear what will happen next, but a second vote was unlikely to be held on Tuesday.
This is the first time such a thing has happened in Germany's postwar history. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has demanded he step aside and called for fresh elections.
Merz is no stranger to defeat in his many attempts to reach the pinnacle of German politics.
His first came at the hands of former Chancellor Angela Merkel with whom his rivalry resulted in him abandoning politics and entering the private sector.
Only after Merkel announced she was stepping down would he make a return to the Bundestag.
He tried to run against Merkel's named successor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer for the leadership of the CDU in 2018, but lost.
After Kramp-Karrenbauer stepped down, he then made a second attempt to take control of the party in 2021, facing off against Armin Laschet and Norbert Röttgen. He again lost, this time to Laschet.
But Laschet went on to lose his bid to become chancellor of Germany in the 2021 federal election, which was won by the SPD's Olaf Scholz and his "traffic light" coalition.
Following Laschet's defeat, Merz finally won the support of the CDU, becoming leader of the CDU/CSU opposition bloc in the Bundestag and being named as the chancellor candidate in February's federal election.
Despite being considered a fait accompli, Merz failed to secure his election as chancellor by lawmakers in the Bundestag on Tuesday.
This story was originally published on DW.
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