Merz Humiliated as He LOSES Vote to Become German Chancellor
Friedrich Merz, leader of the German conservatives, was humiliated in Parliament today as he failed to win a majority in a secret ballot to become Chancellor. The Telegraph has the story.
On Tuesday morning, German MPs held a secret ballot to elect the country’s next leader. It was largely viewed as a formality because Mr Merz had already agreed to lead a coalition government.
But Mr Merz fell short of the majority required to become Chancellor by just six votes, an unprecedented sign of dissent from his centre-Right CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party and its coalition allies.
Mr Merz won 310 votes in the secret ballot, six short of the majority he required to lead the next German government.
Shocked CDU politicians left the chamber for urgent talks after the result, amid speculation in the German media that some of their MPs had rebelled due to policy disagreements with Mr Merz.
The CDU leader can still hold a second vote in the Bundestag, the German Parliament, to try and secure his majority.
If that were to fail, a third round of voting would occur, in which he would only need to secure the highest number of votes in Parliament, rather than a majority.
The result is a major embarrassment for Mr Merz. In a further setback, CDU sources told German media that there would be no second round of voting on Tuesday.
That meant Mr Merz would not be appointed as German Chancellor on Tuesday, throwing his schedule for the rest of the week – which included several visits to European capitals – into disarray.
Mr Merz was due to embark on a blitz of foreign policy visits to Paris, Warsaw and Brussels in some of his first tasks as Chancellor. It was unclear if those trips would go ahead.
It is not known when the second round of voting will take place, but the CDU’s leadership will first need to try and find out why its coalition allies withheld support.
It remains unclear why Mr Merz lost the ballot as it was held in secret. Officials in his CDU party are now frantically trying to establish who withheld their support and why.
Mr Merz’s coalition agreement consisted of his CDU party, its sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) and the centre-Left Social Democrats (SPD).
Suspicion would naturally first fall on the SPD, Mr Merz’s coalition ally, as more likely to betray Mr Merz than his own MPs. But Lars Klingbeil, the SDP leader, strongly denied that his side was responsible for the shortage in votes.
Jurgen Hardt, a CDU MP, said that his party was holding talks to try and understand what has gone wrong, adding: “Those in the coalition who didn’t vote for Friedrich Merz must ask themselves whose business they’re running.”
Worth reading in full.
My theory: Merz alienated his own supporters, including his own MPs, with his sell-out to the Left and treachery in respect of voters’ wishes so much that too many of his MPs decided independently to lodge a protest vote under the cover of secrecy.
Stop Press: Merz has now been successfully elected Chancellor after a second round of voting was held in the Bundestag on Tuesday after all. The upset turns out to have been short but sweet, and has left Merz damaged as he begins his term.
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Clearly democracy can only work if there are no secret votes.
[sarcasm]
Democracy works best when there aren’t any votes. Just the annointed true representatives of the true people making the right decisions, as was the case in the communist parts of Europe until about 1990.
“… as was the case in the communist parts of Europe until about 1990.”
And is the case in the EU parts of Europe.
Yes, of course you can have a secret ballot. God help you if you vote wrongly or fail to vote though.
Secret ballot? Shirley you mean secretive ballot like everyone says of the Vatican Conclave?
Effing hilarious. Having held a secret(ive) ballot:
Just guessin’. They don’t think he’s the right bod for the job?
{Dammit. Once again zoomed by Discoveredjoys}
Hahahahahahaha and repeat till the tears run freely.
You have secret ballots so that the officials can’t punish you.
Schadenfreude is a German word.
He should totally resign, which is purely wishful thinking, of course. Alice Weidel has a more impressive set than that treacherous tosser; ”CDU leader Friedrich Merz failed to secure an absolute majority in the Bundestag during his first attempt to become Chancellor, triggering immediate demands for new elections from opposition leaders. Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), seized on Merz’s defeat to call for his resignation and early elections, emphasizing the unstable foundation upon which the proposed CDU/CSU-SPD coalition now stands. Merz received only 310 votes in favor, narrowly missing the required majority of 316 from the 630 members of parliament. A total of 307 MPs opposed him, and three abstained. The outcome marks the first time in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany that a candidate failed to win the chancellorship in the first round following successful coalition negotiations, reflecting deep internal divisions within the coalition between Merz’s CDU/CSU bloc and the Social Democrats (SPD). Meanwhile, AfD members remained jubilant in the chamber following the vote, openly celebrating Merz’s setback. Alice Weidel capitalized on the political crisis, stating on social media: “Merz is the first chancellor candidate of the Federal Republic of Germany to… Read more »
Another vote lost in less than a week by 6 votes…….???
They’ve now ‘corrected’ the vote.
What a shitshow!
Euggypius has been superb on this.
You will vote freely and repeatedly until you vote for the correct candidate!
“Officials in his CDU party are now frantically trying to establish who withheld their support and why.”
Translation: “Hunt down those people and force them to change their vote in the second round! Let no one escape! How dare they rebel against the Globalists!”
Result: Evil Merz won, as the Stop Press above revealed.
It’s similar to the Globalists forcing the Danes to hold a second referendum after they voted to leave the EU years ago.
Or forcing countries into changing their law to remove referendums on EU Treaties after the constitution was rejected in at least two countries.
To add to the humiliation of the new Fuhrer, this is the first time it has ever happened. I hope when he goes on his tour of other countries they greet him with an appropriate salute.
Hehe, a ray of sunshine on Tuesday. Don’t you just love it when the likes of him are publicly humiliated? Despite the most probably fabricated second voting result, he is now forever tarnished with that indelible stamp of rejection. Cheers, my dears, to the super six!
They’ll probably march into Poland They normally do, to distract the electorate
The usual thing from the EU, if you don’t get the result the unelected leaders want make the vote to be taken as many times as necessary until you do.
You vil vote und vote until you get it right. Ja?