Merz fails to be elected German chancellor in first parliamentary vote

BERLIN — Conservative leader Friedrich Merz did not receive enough parliamentary votes in a first round vote to be elected chancellor in a major shock on Tuesday.

“Member of Parliament Friedrich Merz did not achieve the required majority of at least 316 votes,” Bundestag President, Julia Klöckner, announced after the first ballot in the Bundestag in a highly unexpected turn of events.

Klöckner interrupted the Bundestag session. The parliamentary groups are now set to convene. The timing of the second vote is unclear.

Merz was six votes short of being elected by the majority of Germany’s 630 parliamentarians. His coalition, which consists of his own conservative block and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) would hold one of the slimmest parliamentary majorities since World War II, with just 52 percent of seats.

The event marks a major embarrassment for the conservative leader.

This article is being updated.