Germany’s Friedrich Merz HUMILIATED After Bundestag Fails To Elect Him New Chancellor in First Round of Voting
Establishment ‘Conservative’ Suffers Historical Rebuff
The transition of power in Germany can be a protracted affair: having won the most seats in the February elections, it was only today (6) that – having set up a coalition with Olaf Scholz’s SPD – the Bundestag assembled to vote CDU’s Friedrich Merz in as new Chancellor.
Well, at least that was the plan – because for the first time since WW2 a candidate fails to reach enough votes to be appointed head of government, in a stunning humiliation for Merz.
ABC News reported:
“A candidate for chancellor has never failed to win on the first ballot since the end of the war. Merz needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot. He only received 310 votes — well short of the 328 seats held by his coalition.
The parties were now to regroup to discuss the next step but it was not immediately clear how long the process could take.”
Watch: Merz's stunned reaction to the historial loss.
The Bundestag has two weeks to elect a candidate with an absolute majority. Merz is allowed to run again, but other MPs can also try their luck against him.
“If Merz or any other candidate fails to get that majority during the period of 14 days, the constitution allows for the president to appoint the candidate who wins the most votes as chancellor, or to dissolve the Bundestag and hold a new national election.”
Today’s vote was held on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender in WW2.
“Merz's failure in the voting adds to the challenges ahead — whoever is elected chancellor will face questions about the future of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, also known as AfD. Mainstream German political parties refuse to work with it, citing the so-called ‘firewall’ they’ve upheld against cooperating with far-right parties since the end of the war.”
Le Monde reported:
"The AfD – the largest opposition party, which scored a record result of over 20% in the election – cheered the surprise result.
'Merz should step aside and the way should be cleared for a general election'," AfD co-leader Alice Weidel told reporters. She called the result a 'good day for Germany'."
AfD’s Alice Weidel on Merz’s defeat: