Earlier, during the first vote on the morning of May 6, the vote of confidence could not be secured. The 69-year-old Merz, who led the conservatives from the CDU/CSU to victory in the federal elections in February and subsequently entered into a coalition agreement with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), received only 310 votes in the lower house of parliament, with 316 needed for election.
In the second round, 325 deputies voted for the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz, according to DW* and Bild. His appointment still needs to be confirmed by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, after which he will take the oath and lead the government.
Merz's conservatives won the national elections in February, securing 28.5% of the votes, but to form a majority government, they need at least one partner. On Monday, they signed a coalition agreement with the center-left Social Democrats, who secured only 16.4%, marking their worst result in Germany's post-war history.
The elections took place against the backdrop of the recognition of the far-right party "Alternative for Germany," which received a record number of votes in the February elections and showed the second-best result, securing 210 seats in parliament, as an extremist organization "threatening democracy." However, after the elections, according to polls, "AfD" led among all parties, pushing aside Merz's CDU/CSU.
* Recognized in Russia as a "foreign agent."