Merz is sworn in as chancellor after a surprising fiasco in the first vote

BerlinThe second time's the charm. Conservative Friedrich Merz was elected the tenth chancellor of the Republic of Germany this Tuesday in the Bundestag, the lower house of the German Parliament, with 325 votes in favor, after a thrilling day in a country unused to political shocks. Merz finally managed to surpass the 316 votes he needed to succeed Social Democrat Olaf Scholz at the helm of Europe's leading economic power.

For Merz to be elected chancellor, a second vote was necessary, something unprecedented in Germany. In the morning, Merz had unexpectedly failed in his first vote with only 310 votes in favor, six short of the required majority. The failure in the first vote surprised everyone inside and outside the Bundestag and caused the German stock market to plummet. Before the vote, both the conservatives and the Social Democrats, partners in the new governing coalition, had claimed they had enough votes. But that was not the case.

Although the Basic Law, as the German constitution is called, provides for up to three rounds of voting before the proposed candidate is elected chancellor, this was the first time such a thing had happened in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Once elected by the Bundestag, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier presented Merz with his official act of appointment in a ceremony at Bellevue Palace, the residence of the German head of state. Merz later returned to the Bundestag, where he was sworn in by Lower House Speaker Julia Klöckner on the Basic Law. "I swear to devote my energies to the good of the German people, to increase their well-being, to prevent them from harm, to safeguard and defend the Basic Law and the laws of the Federation, to scrupulously fulfill my duties, and to be fair to all," Merz promised the Bundestag.

As a true Christian Democrat, Merz used the phrase "with God's help" in his oath, even though it's not mandatory. For example, Scholz didn't use it when he was sworn in, nor did former Social Democrat Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

One of the first to congratulate Merz was Scholz. After leaving the chancellery, the Social Democrat will continue his political activity as a member of the SPD. Scholz won a direct mandate in the February federal elections for Potsdam, his constituency. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as Merz's wife and children, also attended this historic Bundestag session. Merkel, his eternal rival within the party, attended the first vote, sitting in the visitors' gallery, as she is no longer a member of parliament, but did not stay for the second vote due to lack of time.

A weak coalition

Merz begins his term as chancellor on the wrong foot, just at a time when the new head of government was supposed to convey to the world the message that Germany was returning to the international stage, after months of absence due to the collapse of Scholz's traffic light coalition due to internal disagreements on the first day. The chancellor's resignation is a symptom of the weakness of the new coalition between conservatives and social democrats, in a context of economic stagnation, the rise of the far right in Germany and Europe, and international instability. Merz. Since the vote is secret, it is unknown who the rebels are or whether they will scare the new chancellor again during his term. But several local media outlets report the rumor that the dissenting votes could come from SPD deputies. The votes Merz lacked in the first round are "a sign of the distrust of Friedrich Merz," even within the coalition's deputies. What happened in the Bundestag demonstrates "the weak foundation on which the small coalition between the CDU-CSU and the SPD was built, which was defeated by the citizens," Weidel said.

The far right is hot on its heels.

The Conservatives and the Social Democrats hold 328 of the 630 seats in the new Bundestag, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) being the main opposition party. The CDU-CSU and the SPD have only 12 seats more than necessary for an absolute majority. Therefore, any rebellion within the coalition could derail the reforms announced by Merz to pull Germany out of recession and revive the damaged economy.

After a first evening cabinet meeting at the Chancellery, Merz makes her international debut as Chancellor this Wednesday. Following the tradition of other German chancellors, her first trip will be to Paris, followed by Warsaw.

"Congratulations on your inauguration, dear Chancellor Friedrich Merz!" French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated him on social media, just hours before receiving him at the Élysée Palace. "It's up to us to make the Franco-German engine stronger than ever. It's up to us to accelerate our European agenda of sovereignty, security, and competitiveness. For the French, for the Germans, and for all Europeans," Macron concluded.