Friedrich Merz elected German Chancellor

With 325 votes for, 289 against, one abstention and three invalid votes, Merz will be Germany's new Chancellor.

We remember that, in a secret vote held this morning, Merz failed to take office after securing 310 votes -- 6 less than the necessary majority, even though coalition parliamentary groups CSU/ CSU and SPD have a total of 328 seats in Parliament.

By DW, this failure was something new in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, as there had never before failed to elect a Chancellor candidate after Bundestag's election and successful coalition negotiations.

Meanwhile, prior to the start of voting for the second round, party leaders stressed the significance of the vote, saying it points to the state's “ability to act and function democracy”.

However, Germany's Alternative spokesperson, Bernd Baumann, referred to Merz's defeat in the morning vote, said that “even if Merz secures the majority in the second vote, it shows how unstable his coalition is, and this is the “opposite of what Germany needs”.