Germany's Merz just isn’t chosen as a chancellor to shock the parliamentary coordination within the first spherical as Chancellor

Friedrich Merz, the proven Federal Chancellor (CDU), was shown during the signing of the coalition agreement between the SPD, CDU and CSU on May 5, 2025 in Berlin.

Florian Gaertner | Photothek | Getty pictures

Friedrich Merz was not elected German Chancellor on Tuesday after raising a majority in a shock in the first round of the parliamentary vote.

Merz needed at least 316 votes to become Chancellor, and only 310 MPs voted in his favor. Germany's Bundestag has a total of 630 members.

The result marks an unexpected setback for Merz, of which it was generally expected to give the necessary voices and be officially sworn later in the day.

After the result of the vote, the parliamentary session was stopped to enable the discussion of the next steps. The German Dax The stock market index expanded the losses to at 10:07 a.m. in London by 1.4%.

According to the German constitution, a second vote must take place within 14 days, with an absolute majority again required. There are also protocols if the second vote also chooses a chancellor.

Merz 'Social Democratic Union, next to her sister party of the Christian Social Union, won the largest proportion of votes in the elections in February in February. You should form a coalition government at the Social Democratic Party. Coalition governments are the order of the day in Germany, where it is very rare for a party to secure an absolute majority of over 50% in an election.

The parties on Monday signed their coalition agreement entitled “Responsibility for Germany” after weeks of negotiations that began shortly after the elections in February in Germany.

Despite the setback, Merz is expected to be chosen as a chancellor, economists and analysts said on Tuesday.

“Friedrich Merz was the first candidate for Chancellor who was not elected in the first round of voting in the Bundestag. However, he will still have sufficient support,” said Carsten Nickel, deputy research director for research director at Teneo.

Holger Schmieding, chief economist near Berenberg, described the situation as a “bad surprise”. He repeated comments that point out that Merz would eventually become chancellor, but “the unprecedented failure to be elected in the first round would still be a bad start for him.”

“It shows that he cannot completely rely on his two coalition parties. This will sow some doubts about his ability to fully pursue his agenda and at least damage his national and international authority,” said Schmieding.

Who is Friedrich Merz?

The 69-year-old Merz has long shot for the top job in German politics. When he was still in school, he joined the CDU and finally headed the local branch of the party's youth organization. In 1989 he became a member of the European Parliament before he later came to Germany's Bundestag.

A large part of Merz 'political career in the early 2000s was characterized by a rivalry with the former German chancellor Angela Merkel, since the two fought for leadership roles in the CDU itself and within the CDU CSU parliamentary group. Merz became the chairman, then deputy head of the latter, before he finally stepped down from the role in 2004 – observers linked this at the time with Merkel who rose through the rows.

Before his time in politics, Merz studied law and initially worked as a judge and then as a lawyer at Mayer Brown LLP. He was also leading positions in companies such as Blackrock Germany and HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt.