Germany‘S Friedrich Merz has become the The first chancellor – is waiting not to form a coalition government in the first attempt, Throwing doubts into the power of the future prime minister.
The conservative leader is required 316 votes to 630 seats Bundestag To form a majority in parliament, but six seats fell unexpectedly short more than two months after winning the elections.
He appeared visibly shocked because the score read in Berlin.
How did we get here?
Mr. Merz expected that the next Chancellor of Germany on his party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won from the February prospect, encouraged by the collapse of the present chancellor Olaf ScholzSPD coalition in November.
The SPD is third in the prospects in February, with 120 seats, behind the far right alternative to Germany (AFD) to 152 seats and CDU Mr. Merz with 208.
Once the CDU signed the coalition on Monday, Monday, Monday for the Social Democratic Party in the central left (SPD), the voting is expected to be a formality on Tuesday.
Poor spd performance in the selection in February, the worst in postwar history, means that the coalition has one of the youngest majority in decades, holding only 52 percent of the vote.
SPD and CDU spent months that gave each other In order to form a sustainable coalition, but the insiders of the party had a trusted trust on Monday that Mr. Merz would be successful in the formation of the Government.
Together, the CDU and SPD should order 328 votes, which means 18 members planned most Mr. Merz, did not vote for him on Tuesday.
Nine legislators refrained from voting, while 307 voted against Mr. Merz, President Bundestag Julia Kloeckner said.
Does this harm their plan for European stability and strength?
It is the first time in Germany Post World War II history that the potential chancellor failed to provide most of the government in the first round of voting.
Although Mr. Merz will eventually form a government, this historical failure has already signaled the fragility of his coalition.
After the collapse of the previous coalition, which was led by the SPD at the end of last year, Mr. Merz hoped to start his government from the position of strength.
The current Russian invasion in Ukraine, the American Tariff of President Donald Trump against Europe, the struggle in Germany and the growth of the final right in Germany have led to a sharp facilitation of a stable government.
In March, Mr. Merz promised to do “whatever necessary” on the defense consumption while led calls for Europe to be held in military strength in America.
“Given the growing situation for the threat, we are clear to Europe – and with Europe, the Federal Republic of Germany – now must very quickly make very quick efforts to strengthen the defensive ability of our country and the European continent,” he said.
In the short term, Mr. Merz will have to cancel the scheduled trip on Wednesday in France and Poland, where he allegedly planned to discuss European defense.
What happens now?
Parliament is now 14 days to choose a chancellor with most.
CDU politicians believed that the Bundestag could be re-collected again on Tuesday afternoon for another vote, according to local media reports.
According to the German Constitution, there is no limit to how much votes can be held for the insurance of the absolute majority, and if it cannot be agreed, the president may appoint a candidate that wins most votes.
By the way, the president can dissolve the Bundestag and hold a new national election – although it seems unlikely in this compound.
Alternative candidates for Mr. Merz can be proposed, but only CDU and SPD have enough room for the commandment of the majority without AFD.
Mr. Merz ruled with the work with AFD, in accordance with the National Brandaryeur Policy, which work with the ultimate law. Politics was in force since the end of World War II.
Last week, German domestic intelligence agencies classified AFD as an extremist organization, enabled the Agency to strengthen the monitoring of the political party, including employment of informatics and intercepted party communications.
On Monday, Afd has filed a lawsuit against the intelligence agency regarding the decision.
After the Vote on Tuesday, the AFD Braga spokesman told independent that Mr. Merz should consider working with AFD to form a significant majority if he wants to avoid his own death. ”
But he admitted that it was unlikely, claiming that Mr. Merz “remained firmly locked in the self-built prison” Brandmauer “, who obliged any cooperation with AFD for all officially sanctioned reasons.”