Germany’s Merz elected as chancellor after initial surprise setback
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Mr Friedrich Merz (left) had only won the backing of only 310 MPs, with 307 voting against him.
PHOTO: AFP
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BERLIN - Germany’s conservative leader Friedrich Merz on May 6 won a nail-biter second vote in Parliament to become chancellor after he lost the first round in a stunning early setback.
Mr Merz, 69, scored an absolute majority of 325 against 289 in the secret vote in the Lower House of Parliament.
He takes over at the helm of a coalition between his CDU/CSU alliance and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is expected to appoint him as post-war Germany’s 10th chancellor on May 7, along with his Cabinet, before Mr Merz visits Paris and then Warsaw the same day.
His victory caps a long ambition to lead Europe’s biggest economy, which was first foiled decades ago by party rival Angela Merkel who went on to serve as chancellor for 16 years.
Mr Merz’s eventual victory on May 6 was bittersweet as the initial defeat – the first such outcome in Germany’s post-war history – pointed to rumblings of discontent within his uneasy coalition.
The unprecedented first-round loss was “a bad start” for Mr Merz and “shows that he cannot fully rely on his two coalition parties”, wrote analyst Holger Schmieding of Berenberg Bank.
“That will sow some doubts about his ability to fully pursue his agenda, damaging his domestic and international authority at least initially.”
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) especially cheered the heavy political blow to Mr Merz, who has vowed to restore stability in the country after half a year of political turmoil.
“Merz should step aside and the way should be cleared for a general election,” AfD co-leader Alice Weidel had said earlier, calling the first-round result a “good day for Germany”.
World is watching
The first secret vote was expected to be a formality but turned into disaster for Mr Merz when he failed to muster the required absolute majority, falling short by six votes. The early setback stunned Germany and set off frantic crisis meetings in the Bundestag.
Mr Merz has vowed to revive the ailing economy and strengthen Berlin’s role in Europe as it responds to rapid change since US President Donald Trump returned to power.
Mr Trump has heaped pressure on European allies, complaining that they spend too little on Nato, and imposing tariffs that are especially painful to export power Germany.
CDU parliamentary leader Jens Spahn had emphasised the urgency of a new government taking office, given the economic and geopolitical turbulence. “The whole of Europe, perhaps even the whole world, is watching this second round of voting,” he said before the second vote, urging MPs to “be aware of this special responsibility”.
Profound upheaval
Mr Merz, who boasts a strong business background but has never held a government leadership post, on May 5 said “we live in times of profound change, of profound upheaval... and of great uncertainty”.
“And that is why we know that it is our historic obligation to lead this coalition to success,” he said.
To take over as chancellor, Mr Merz needed an absolute majority of 316 votes. But in the first vote earlier on May 6, he won the backing of only 310 MPs, with 307 voting against him.
Capital Economics analyst Franziska Palmas argued the initial setback “does leave Merz severely weakened and suggests that hopes for more stability in German politics may be disappointed”.
The alliance of Germany’s two big-tent parties has vowed, once in government, to continue to support Ukraine as the United States looks to encourage a deal to end the war started by Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Expecting to take power, the coalition has already secured hundreds of billions of euros in fiscal firepower under a spending “bazooka” passed by the outgoing Parliament.
Their stated aim is to rebuild crumbling infrastructure and the long-underfunded military while boosting an economy which has shrunk for two years.
Mr Merz has also vowed to curb irregular migration and deploy extra police to secure Germany’s borders, putting an end to the open-door policy that welcomed millions of migrants under his party rival, former chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Christian Democractic Union leader has warned only such drastic steps will prevent the AfD from potentially coming out on top in elections in four years’ time.
The stakes were heightened when Germany’s domestic intelligence service on May 2 designated the AfD as a “right-wing extremist” party, reviving debate on whether it should be banned.
This sparked a furious response from Trump allies who have supported the anti-immigration AfD, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accusing the German spy agency of “tyranny in disguise”. AFP
