Germany’s new government with bumpy start after Merz needs unprecedented second vote for chancellor
Germany’s aspiring coalition government can start its work under a new chancellor Friedrich Merz following an unprecedented second round of voting on the position in parliament.
Conservative Christian Democrat Union (CDU) leader Merz received 325 out of 613 registered votes, clearing the necessary threshold of 316 votes. “I thank you for the trust in me and accept the vote,” Merz said after the result’s announcement late in the afternoon.
At the first round of voting in the morning, Merz only received 310 votes, while the CDU, its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) and their coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) together have a total of 328 members of parliament. The lacking support of several members of his own coalition factions handed the candidate a defeat that is unprecedented in modern Germany’s history.
The surprise failure in parliament for the agreed coalition government in the first round of voting had stunned observers and many members of parliament. However, it did not mean a fatal blow to Merz’s ambitions, as the legal procedure provides for several rounds of voting to ensure clarity. The result of the first round of voting left many lawmakers in parliament, as well as Merz and his designated ministers, visibly shocked.
“I didn’t expect this at all,” Carsten Linnemann, a close internal party ally of Merz, told public broadcaster Phoenix after the failed first round of voting. However, he said that Merz continued to enjoy strong support among the conservatives’ ranks and remained “the right candidate at the right time.” Linnemann added that “the world and Europe won’t wait for us. On the contrary, they want us to achieve stability quickly.”
Merz’s missed majority in the secret ballot in the morning disrupted the schedule for the day, which would have ended with the swearing in of his prospective cabinet in the early afternoon by federal president Frank-Walter Steinmeier. However, Merz met with Steinmeier immediately after securing a majority in the second round to receive his letter of appointment. Steinmeier said Merz’s designated government cabinet members were expected to be sworn in later during the day.
The new chancellor was expected to be able to attend two planned first trips, first to France and then to Poland, on the next day (7 May) for a welcome visit with the heads of government of Germany’s most important European partners.
Failure in first round of chancellor vote bodes ill for "more controversial questions"
While most of the planned schedule for Germany’s new chancellor for the next days can be kept undisturbed by the events of Tuesday morning, the failed first round of voting meant that his coalition had “started without a majority”, political scientist Karl-Rudolf Korte said in a live broadcast by Phoenix. Missing the threshold in its first ballot in the newly elected parliament would bode ill for securing majorities “on more controversial questions,” Korte argued. However, he added that the early defeat in parliament did not necessarily damage Merz’s long-term chances of leading a successful and smoothly functioning government.
The new government is set to face such controversial issues also in energy and climate policy, where conservatives and Social Democrats often have markedly different views. While the coalition agreement lays out joint decisions and general policy proposals, the devil is in the details, and much could depend on tough legislative negotiations among ministries and in parliament – such as how to use the 500-billion-euros infrastructure and climate neutrality fund, or the design of support schemes to push e-mobility.
The agreement serves as the guideline for the coming four years, but the coalition partners will also have to deal with questions it does not cover. For example, the new coalition has agreed to re-assess Germany’s future electricity demand, as well as the status of energy security, grid expansion, renewables expansion, digitalisation, and the hydrogen ramp-up in a report by summer 2025. It aims to use this as the basis for further policy decisions, many of which could be controversial – such as the pace of renewables expansion or permanent shutdowns of coal power plants.
Heike Vesper of environmental NGO WWF Germany said the country now needs a capable government to lead “on a sustainable path” which would make Germany more resilient. “We assume that the new chancellor and his government will recognise the economic opportunities and the basis for the modernisation of the country in ambitious climate and nature protection,” she said. “A rollback in climate policy would jeopardise Germany's lead.” However, the coalition agreement showed that the country could actually take steps backwards on climate for the first time.
The chancellor vote for Merz was scheduled exactly six months after current caretaker chancellor Olaf Scholz from the SPD announced the end of his own coalition government on 6 November 2024. A failure to maintain discipline and cohesion in his three-party coalition had been seen as one of the main reasons why Scholz's government had come to an early end after three years instead of finishing the full four year-term in office.
The failed first round of voting came as a shock to many observers, as Germany’s stock market index took a hit shortly after the first round’s result were announced at about ten o’clock in the morning.
“The decision made by some members of parliament today in these difficult times is just reckless,” said industry lobbyist Wolfgang Große Entrup, head of chemical industry association VCI. “Some people simply didn’t understand the political ramifications at all,” he argued, adding that “this is about the future of our country and not about settling some personal scores.”
Merz’s popularity ratings in polls took a hit in the weeks before the scheduled vote, as did the ratings of his party. Many conservative voters, and also several lawmakers from the CDU/CSU, rejected the reform of Germany’s debt brake and other measures Merz agreed on with the SPD, arguing it would run counter to what the candidate for chancellor had promised on the campaign trail.
