The leader of Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, has failed to win enough votes to become chancellor of Germany. Merz fell short by six votes in just the first round of voting in parliament. He had been widely anticipated to win the parliamentary vote, but his failure to secure the majority means that Germany’s political parties will need to reconvene and discuss next steps. No candidate for German chancellor has ever failed to secure the absolute majority in the first round of voting. 

Read more: http://aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/6/merz-fails-to-be-elected-germanys-chancellor-in-first-parliament-vote