Union’s Spahn Announces Second Round for Merz as Chancellor Candidate
Jens Spahn, the chair of the Union parliamentary group (CDU/CSU), announced on Tuesday that Friedrich Merz, also from the CDU, will remain a candidate for the Chancellor position in a second round of voting. “We will propose Friedrich Merz for the second round as a coalition – Union and SPD – and go into the second round together” Spahn said. The question that needs to be clarified is when the second round can take place. “Whether it can happen according to the rules in a few days or perhaps earlier” said the CDU politician. “But that would only be possible with the consent of other groups. Discussions are underway and I must ask you to wait until we have the results of these discussions.”
The fact that Merz did not receive the approval of the majority of the members of the Bundestag, a so-called “chancellor majority” of 316 votes, came as a surprise. Never before has a designated Chancellor failed to be elected in the first round of voting after successful coalition negotiations following a Bundestag election.
The planned CDU/CSU and SPD coalition has a total of 328 members. However, on Tuesday morning, Merz received only 310 “yes” votes in the Bundestag, 307 members voted against him and three abstained. One vote was invalid and nine votes were not cast.
The Bundestag now has 14 days to elect a Chancellor with more than half of its members. If the election does not take place within this period, a new round of voting must be held, according to the provisions of the Basic Law, to determine who receives the most votes.
Originally, it was planned that Merz would take his oath of office later in the day and the designee ministers would receive their appointment documents and be sworn in. The handover of the Chancellorship and the ministries was scheduled for the afternoon. However, the governing coalition remains in office and the planned visits by Merz to Paris and Warsaw on Wednesday may now have to be postponed.