BERLIN (AP) — In a historic first, conservative leader Friedrich Merz ’s bid to become Germany’s 10th chancellor since World War II failed by six votes in parliament on Tuesday, a stunning defeat as he had been widely expected to win smoothly.
A candidate for chancellor has never failed to win on the first ballot since the end of the war. The loss triggered a stock market slide: the DAX, the index of major German companies, was down 1.8% following the vote.
Merz needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes. He only received 310 votes — well short of the 328 seats held by his coalition, which is also one of the slimmest postwar majorities. Because the vote was held by secret ballot, it was not immediately clear — and might never be known — who had defected from Merz's camp.
Merz's coalition is led by his center-right Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union. They are joined by the center-left Social Democrats, outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party. The parties were now to regroup to discuss the next step but it was also unclear how long the process could take.
Merz is seeking to take the helm of the 27-nation European Union’ s most populous member after Scholz’s government collapsed last year and a national election was held in February. Scholz, despite his official farewell on Monday, remains in a caretaker role until a new chancellor takes over.
Germany has the continent’s biggest economy and serves as a diplomatic heavyweight. The new chancellor's portfolio would include the war in Ukraine and the Trump administration’s trade policy on top of domestic issues, such as Germany's stagnant economy and the rise of a far-right, anti-immigrant party.
“The world is in turmoil. Europe needs a strong Germany," Carsten Linnemann, the secretary-general of the Christian Democrats, told reporters after Merz's loss. He said a second vote should come soon. "We can’t wait for days now, we need clarity quickly.”
What's next?
The lower house of parliament — called the Bundestag — has 14 days to elect a candidate with an absolute majority. Merz can run again, but other lawmakers can also throw their hat in the ring. There is no limit to the number of votes that can be held within the two-week period.
If Merz or any other candidate fails to get that majority within the 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.
Johann Wadepuhl, the designated next foreign minister, said he was confident 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 that you have to be prepared for,” he told reporters.
Volker Resing, who wrote the recent biography “Friedrich Merz: His Path to Power,” expressed surprise at the turn of events.
“It shows how fragile the coalition’s situation is and that some lawmakers are prepared to spread uncertainty — that’s a warning signal,” Resing told The Associated Press.
Resing said that if Merz gets elected in the second round, then everything will be fine and people may soon forget about this hiccup. But “for now everything is wide open,” he added.
Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, slammed Merz's failure proof that his coalition has a "weak foundation.” She called for Merz to resign immediately and for new elections to be held.
AfD is the biggest opposition party in Germany’s new parliament after it placed second in national elections in February. Despite its historic gains, it was shut out of coalition talks due to the so-called “firewall" that mainstream German political parties have upheld against cooperating with far-right parties since the end of the war.
80th anniversary of World War II
Tuesday's vote was held on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Germany’s unconditional surrender in World War II. The ballots are cast in the restored Reichstag, where graffiti left by Soviet troops has been preserved at several locations in the building.
The shadow of the war in Ukraine also loomed over Tuesday's vote. Germany is the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine, after the United States.
Overall, Germany is the fourth largest defense spender in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which studies trends in global military expenditures. Only the U.S., China and Russia are ahead.
Germany rose to that rank thanks to an investment of 100 billion euros ($107 billion) for its armed forces, a measure passed by lawmakers in 2022.
The country’s defense spending rose again earlier this year, when parliament loosened the nation’s strict debt rules. It's a move that's been closely watched by the rest of Europe as the Trump administration has threatened to pull back from its security support on the continent.
Besides ramping up defense spending, Merz's coalition has pledged to spur economic growth, take a tougher approach to migration and catch up on long-neglected modernization..
Germany and the Trump administration
The U.S. administration has bashed Germany repeatedly since President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. Trump, who has German roots, had often expressed his dislike of former Chancellor Angela Merkel during his first term in office.
This time around, Trump’s lieutenants are at the forefront — tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk has supported AfD for months. He hosted a chat with Weidel that he livestreamed on X earlier this year to amplify her party’s message.
Vice President JD Vance, during the Munich Security Conference in February, assailed the “firewall" and later met with Weidel, a move that German officials heavily criticized.
Last week, the German domestic intelligence service said it has classified AfD as a “right-wing extremist” organization, making it subject to greater and broader surveillance.
The decision by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution prompted blowback from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vance over the weekend. Germany’s Foreign Ministry hit back at Rubio after he called on the country to undo the classification.
The domestic intelligence service’s measure does not amount to a ban of the party, which can only take place through a request by either of parliament’s two chambers or the federal government through the Federal Constitutional Court.
Merz has not commented publicly on the intelligence service’s decision.
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Associated Press videojournalist Fanny Brodersen in Berlin and writer David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this report.
Stefanie Dazio And Kirsten Grieshaber, The Associated Press
