German politics suddenly in turmoil, chancellor's seat suddenly shaky

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz failed to win a majority to become chancellor at what was supposed to be a formality meeting.

The Telegraph reported that on the morning of May 6, German parliamentarians held a secret ballot to elect the country's next leader.

The vote is seen as a formality as Mr Merz has agreed to lead a coalition government .

However, Mr. Merz surprisingly received only 310 votes, 6 votes short of the necessary number to become prime minister .

Mr Friedrich Merz. Photo: PA

German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politicians were “shocked” and left the chamber for emergency talks after the vote result.

German media speculated that some CDU lawmakers had “rebelled” due to policy disagreements with Mr Merz.

The CDU leader could still hold a second vote in the German parliament to try to secure his majority. If he fails, a third round of voting will take place, in which Mr Merz would only need to secure the most votes in parliament rather than a majority.

CDU sources told German media that there would be no second round of voting on May 6 (local time). That means Mr Merz will not be appointed chancellor on May 6, affecting his schedule this week - including several trips to Europe.

Mr Merz is scheduled to embark on a series of visits to Paris, Warsaw and Brussels as German chancellor. It is unclear whether those trips will take place.

The CDU leadership will now have to find out why some of its coalition allies are not backing Mr Merz.

Germany's far-right AfD party, which has a lead over Mr Merz's party, has said it will support a second vote in parliament on 7 May.

It is not yet clear why Mr Merz lost the vote because it was held in secret.

According to The Telegraph, Mr Merz has overseen a number of controversial policies, which may have upset some of his allies in the newly formed coalition.

Policies include setting up a special 500 billion euro ($566 billion) infrastructure fund that could lead to massive government debt, a major rearmament of the German military and calls for tighter border security measures.

According to Pham Nghia (NLDO)

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