Friedrich Merz has become Germany's new chancellor after the parliament held a second vote, as the first one did not achieve an absolute majority.
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00:00Friedrich Merz has become Germany's new chancellor after the parliament had to hold a second vote
00:05as the first one did not achieve an absolute majority.
00:09Germany's parliament held a second vote over Merz's chancellor bid
00:12after he suffered a humiliating defeat earlier on Tuesday
00:16in which he did not secure the entirety of the votes of his own coalition.
00:21This time he achieved 325 votes in favor, more than 316 that were required.
00:28The second vote began at 3.15 p.m. local time
00:31and was previously confirmed by CDU's parliament leader, Jen Spahn,
00:36who also appealed to the relevance of a moment in which the world's eyes were set in Berlin.
00:48I am now concluding the declaration.
00:52Member of Parliament Friedrich Merz has achieved the required majority of at least 316 votes.
00:59He has been elected chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
01:03in accordance with Article 63, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law.
01:07Earlier on Tuesday, Friedrich Merz surprisingly failed to become the country's 10th chancellor,
01:16failing and falling short by six votes despite having formed a coalition
01:21with the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Social Union
01:24that was supposed to secure him an absolute majority.
01:27Because the vote is secret, there was no definitive way to know
01:31which members of the coalition did not accompany Merz's bid,
01:34making him the first chancellor-designate that failed to get confirmed
01:38in the first round of voting in post-war history of Germany.