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AfD Tells
Merz to Resign, Call New Election After He Loses Key Vote
Published
May 06, 2025 at 4:28 AM EDT
Updated May
06, 2025 at 8:25 AM EDT
https://www.newsweek.com/germany-faces-political-chaos-after-merz-loses-key-vote-2068394
By Shane
Croucher
Breaking
News Editor
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Germany's
conservative leader Friedrich Merz narrowly lost a vote in the Bundestag to
become the next chancellor in an unexpected setback that plunges Europe's
largest economy into political uncertainty.
Merz seemed
on course to win with a majority of 13, but failed even to gain a simple
majority of one, by six votes.
The
far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which finished second in the most
recent election, demanded fresh elections after Merz's loss, the first time in
German history that a chancellor-designate has failed to win in the first round
of voting.
Why it
Matters
Germany is a
leading power within the 27-member European Union (EU) and a diplomatic
powerhouse. Berlin is playing a central role in issues such as the European
response to Russia's war on Ukraine and the EU's trade dispute with the U.S.
Merz is
heading a fragile coalition of left and right parties put together to keep the
AfD out of power. Germany's spy agency said AfD is a "proven right-wing
extremist endeavor" and poses a threat to the democratic order, which the
party denies.
What to Know
Merz needed
a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot in Germany's lower house
of parliament, but only received 310 votes. There will be a second vote in the
afternoon of May 6, Merz's party confirmed.
The current
German coalition government is led by Merz's center-right Christian Democratic
Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, and joined by
the center-left Social Democrats. All three parties previously approved the
coalition deal.
The
coalition has a relatively modest majority, with 328 of the Bundestag's 630
seats, and aims to spur economic growth, ramp up defense spending, take a
tougher approach to migration, and catch up on long-neglected modernization.
The
Bundestag has 14 days to elect a candidate with an absolute majority. If that
also fails, the constitution allows for the president to appoint the candidate
who wins the most votes as chancellor, or to dissolve the Bundestag and hold a
new national election.
Alice
Weidel, co-leader of the AfD, called for Merz to resign immediately and for a
new election in Germany.
"As the
AfD, we have set out to turn this country upside down," Weidel said in a
post on X, formerly Twitter. "We are ready for the responsibility of
government. And we call for common sense to prevail."
What People
Are Saying
Political
scientist, Karl-Rudolf Korte, told German public television, according to
POLITICO Europe: "These are times of dwindling certainty, not only as far
as important political decisions are concerned, but also with regard to
majorities,"
Volker
Resing, who wrote the recent biography Friedrich Merz: His Path to Power,
expressed surprise at the turn of events, something he said that "has
never happened before" in post-war Germany. It shows how fragile the
coalition's situation is and that some lawmakers are prepared to spread
uncertainty—that's a warning signal," Resing told The Associated Press
after the vote.
Resing said
that if Merz gets elected in the second round, then everything will be fine and
people may soon forget about this hiccup. But "for now everything is wide
open," he added.
What's Next
There will
be a second round of voting on the same day, May 6, the CDU confirmed. It will
take place at 15:15 CET (9:15 a.m. ET).
If Merz
wins, he will be able to move on from the initial loss, which would be a
temporary humiliation. But a second loss would almost certainly be fatal to his
leadership.
This article
includes reporting by The Associated Press.
Update,
5/6/25, 8:20 a.m. ET: Confirmation of a second vote from the CDU was added.
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