SPD and Union Parties Announce Second Round for Chancellor Election
SPD-Fraktionschef Lars Klingbeil and Unionsfraktionschef Jens Spahn have announced a second round for the Chancellor election for the afternoon. Klingbeil said on Tuesday afternoon that he had held a meeting with the Left, the Greens, CDU/CSU and SPD together to discuss the matter. “And I am very grateful that through this process, we have now jointly applied for a second round to take place today, so that we can quickly elect the Federal Chancellor. And I assume that now in the second round, the necessary majority is there, so that Friedrich Merz will be the next Chancellor of our country.”
Klingbeil reminded everyone of the serious situation that Germany is in. “That’s why it’s important that Germany gets a stable government, so that we can work quickly and reliably and work to make this country strong and well-governed.”
Spahn said that he wanted to “thank everyone who made it possible for us to proceed in the rules in this way.” The whole of Europe, “maybe even the whole world” is watching this second round. “Our party stands solidly behind Friedrich Merz. The coalition, Union and SPD, will propose Friedrich Merz for this second round and I appeal to all to be aware of this special responsibility” said Spahn.
CDU-Chef Friedrich Merz had previously missed the so-called “Chancellor majority” of 316 votes in the first round. Never before has a designee for Chancellor failed in the first round of voting in the Bundestag after successful coalition negotiations following a Bundestag election.
The planned coalition between CDU/CSU and SPD has a total of 328 members. However, Merz only received 310 yes votes on Tuesday morning in the Bundestag, 307 members voted against him and three abstained. One vote was invalid and nine votes were not cast.