Historic defeat for Merz: Never before has a chancellor failed in the first round of voting
Friedrich Merz fails in the first round of the election for Chancellor. Never before in German history has a candidate failed to secure the required majority.
Friedrich Merz failed in the first round of the chancellor election on Tuesday. The CDU politician narrowly missed the required majority of 316 votes in the Bundestag. Only 310 MPs voted for Merz in the secret ballot. 307 MPs voted against, and three abstained.
Never before had a candidate for chancellor failed to secure the required majority in the first round of voting. Chancellor Olaf Scholz needed 369 votes to secure the absolute majority he needed in his 2021 election. 395 MPs ultimately voted for him.
The election for the very first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany was incredibly close. CDU candidate Konrad Adenauer needed 202 votes for an absolute majority in his election in 1949. In the end, exactly 202 members of parliament voted for him.
In the second round of voting, a candidate for chancellor must also secure an absolute majority of the German Bundestag to be appointed Chancellor. Only in the third round of voting will a candidate be able to secure a relative majority.
Berliner-zeitung
