Berlin: Conservative leader Friedrich Merz succeeded Tuesday in becoming Germany’s next chancellor, drawing applause and a palpable sense of relief in the parliament chamber after a historic loss in the first round of voting threatened the new government’s promises of stability.
No other postwar candidate for German chancellor has failed to win on the first ballot. The stunning but short-lived defeat sent shock waves throughout Europe and dragged down the stock market.
The DAX, the index of major German companies, fell by 1.8 per cent at one point.
As the most populous member state of the 27-nation European Union and the continent’s biggest economy, Germany is Europe’s diplomatic and economic heavyweight. Many had hoped Merz’s ascension would help the continent navigate the war in Ukraine and the confrontational trade policy of US President Donald Trump.
“The whole of Europe, perhaps even the whole world, is watching this second round of elections,” Jens Spahn, the head of the center-right Union bloc in the German parliament, said before the final vote.
The aftermath
Merz had been expected to easily win the vote to become Germany’s 10th chancellor since World War II, but the first ballot in the lower house of parliament unexpectedly left him with 310 votes — well short of the 328 seats held by his coalition.
Hours later in the second round, he earned 325 votes, surpassing the 316 needed to pass in the 630-seat Bundestag.
Because the votes were conducted by secret ballots, it was not immediately clear — and might never be — who defected from Merz’s camp.
Merz’s coalition is led by his center-right Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union. They are joined by the center-left Social Democrats led by outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who lost the national election in February.
The initial defeat could affect the Merz coalition’s prospects for success and bring trouble to an agenda that includes reviving a stagnant economy and dealing with the rise of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party.
80th anniversary of World War II
Tuesday’s voting came on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender in World War II. The ballots were cast in the restored Reichstag building, where graffiti left by victorious Soviet troops has been preserved at several locations.
The shadow of the war in Ukraine also loomed over the vote. Germany is the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine, after the United States.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he seeks more European and transatlantic leadership from Germany following Merz’s win.
“Ukraine is deeply grateful for the support of Germany and its people,” Zelenskyy wrote on social platform X. “Your helping hand has saved thousands and thousands of Ukrainian lives.”
Overall, Germany is the fourth-largest defense spender in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which studies trends in global military expenditures. Only the US, China and Russia are ahead.