Humiliated Merz fails to be elected German chancellor on first parliament ballot

BERLIN — Conservative leader Friedrich Merz did not receive enough parliamentary votes in a first round vote to be elected chancellor in a major shock on Tuesday.

“Member of Parliament Friedrich Merz did not achieve the required majority of at least 316 votes,” Bundestag President Julia Klöckner announced after the first ballot in a highly unexpected turn of events.

Klöckner interrupted the Bundestag session. The parliamentary groups are now convening. The timing of the second vote is unclear. German law dictates that a second vote must take place within two weeks.

Merz was six votes short of being elected by the majority of Germany’s 630 parliamentarians. His coalition, which consists of his own conservative bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), would hold one of the slimmest parliamentary majorities since World War II, with just 52 percent of seats.

Parliamentarians appeared to be stunned by the result. It’s the first time in Germany’s postwar history that a presumed chancellor has failed to be elected following successful coalition negotiations.

The event marks a major embarrassment for the conservative leader. Merz has repeatedly vowed to provide strong leadership within Europe after years of weak, divided government under outgoing Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The failure to be elected — even if he ultimately succeeds in second round vote — marks a major setback for the Merz.

On Wednesday, he was expected to travel to Paris and Warsaw to discuss European defense strategy.

Members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) — set to become the largest opposition party in parliament — seized the opportunity to hit Merz.

“Merz is damaged, whatever else happens in future,” Bernd Baumann, the AfD’s parliamentary group leader, said Tuesday.

This article has been updated.