Friedrich Merz was poised to be sworn in as Germany's 10th Prime Minister on Tuesday morning, but he failed to win enough votes in Parliament. This is usually just a symbolic step. In the secret vote, he had a majority of 316 votes to just six.
Congress currently has two weeks of trying to gather support to gather Merz or other candidate Prime Ministers with a second vote. There is no limit to the number of votes that can be voted on. It was not immediately clear whether lawmakers would wait to try and vote another vote on Tuesday.
If Merz fails to secure a majority in subsequent votes, the process enters the third phase if lawmakers can use their relative majority to select a new prime minister. This means that multiple candidates are proposed and candidates with most votes not necessarily majority win. Merz's Christian Democrats have the most seats, so he or someone else in that party will win.
However, if the Prime Minister is elected using only a relative majority, the German president, who normally plays a symbolic role, can decide to seek a new election.
This was the first time the German Republic had failed to secure a parliamentary majority in 76 years, and now the transfer of power has been suspended. The pastor cannot name or swear. This means that Olaf Scholz and his Cabinet will remain in the caretaker government until things are resolved.
For Merz, even if he was ultimately voted, the damage to his reputation could be serious.
