Friedrich Merz, the conservative leader, was expected to smoothly win the vote to become Germany’s 10th chancellor since World War II. However, he suffered a setback in first round.
New Delhi:
Friedrich Merz on Tuesday became successful in his bid to become the next German chancellor during a second vote in parliament. Earlier, in the first round, he suffered a historic defeat. The conservative leader was expected to smoothly win the vote to become Germany’s 10th chancellor since World War II. No candidate for chancellor in postwar Germany has failed to win on the first ballot. Merz received 325 votes in the second ballot.
He needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot but only received 310 votes in the first round — well short of the 328 seats held by his coalition.