Friedrich Merz has failed to become the next German Chancellor, as his bid to become Germany’s 10th chancellor has shockingly failed in the first round of voting in parliament by six votes, DailyMail reports.
According to the report by DailyMail, Friedrich Merz, the conservative leader, was expected to win the vote on Tuesday.
But for the first time of in the Federal Republic’s history, the candidate to become Chancellor fell at the first hurdle.
DailyMail reported that Friedrich Merz needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot, but only received 310.
His family left the public gallery immediately after the decision.
Alice Weidel, the co-leader of the AfD, who came second in February’s election, was seen smiling in response to the surprising result.
The lower house of parliament – called the Bundestag – now has 14 days to elect a candidate with an absolute majority, according to German law.
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.
The result represents a significant blow to the Christian Democrat leader, who won Germany’s Federal Elections in February.
His party signed a coalition deal with the centre-left SPD yesterday, with 328 seats between the two parties indicating that Friedrich Merz had enough support to win today’s vote.
But it appears 18 MPs who had been expected to back him dissented, leading to a humiliating defeat for the conservative leader.
In the end, just 310 backed Merz, with 307 voting against.
Three lawmakers abstained, with one invalid ballot, while nine MPs were absent.
The parliamentary vote is a secret ballot, meaning the votes of individual MPs will never be revealed.
Merz’s team could push for a second vote later today.
The vote, which came on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Germany’s unconditional surrender in World War II, was largely seen as a formality to confirm Friedrich Merz as Chancellor.
He was already facing questions over the AfD’s status after it was classified as a ‘right wing extremist’ organisation by the German domestic intelligence service.
Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution described the party as a threat to the country’s democratic order, saying it ‘disregards human dignity’ – in particular by what it called ‘ongoing agitation’ against refugees and migrants.
Mainstream German political parties refuse to work with it, citing the so-called ‘firewall’ they’ve upheld against cooperating with far-right parties since the end of the war.
But senior figures in the White House, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, criticised the move and called on them to undo the classification.