There were two returns of votes, and an urgent procedure to carry out the second on the same day, but in the end Friedrich Merz was elected by Germany. The CDU Christian-Democrats leader obtained 325 votes in favor of the Bundestag, exceeding the 316 threshold by nine votes.
Rejection
Surprisingly, this morning he had not been able to reach the necessary quorum, stopping at 310 votes: an unprecedented event in post -war Germany. A bad blow of the image, to which he had to remedy by also asking for the support of Verdi and Linke, who are in the opposition. It was the two left parties who gave the green light to the urgent procedure that allowed to return to vote in the afternoon, thus putting a piece to the morning mess, which had made Ringalluzzi the extreme right of alternatives Für Deutschland (Afd), ready to ask for new elections.
Friend friend
To pale the 69 -year -old CDU leader were most likely some of his own party colleagues, perhaps to punish him with the attachment of the “debt brake”, a sacred principle of the German Constitution, on which Merz himself had sworn in the election campaign. The farewell to the golden rule of austerity had been passed immediately after the vote of 23 February, when there was still the outgoing parliament in office, to finance the rearmament and modernization of the country. A move that infuriated the conservative base and gave breath to the far right of Afd, the second strength in the elections with a historical result.
The false departure
But nobody would have expected the twist this morning, with Merz who was taken for granted to become a chancellor on the first shot, after decades of attempts, climbing and falls. Instead, the Bundestag denied him the trust on the first lap: an unexpected humiliation that gave a serious blow to his authority and to the fragile coalition government with the Center -left of the SPD.
“Even if he was elected in the second round, the damage would be important. Merz is now considered a weakened chancellor, without a stable alliance, and his popularity is already low,” he had pronounced in a maximum of der Spiegel, after the first vote. A limp departure, in the middle of an explosive geopolitical context, with the return to the white house of Donald Trump who changed the world balance.
Europe pulls a breath of relief
However, the European Union pulls a breath of relief. “We will work together for a stronger and more competitive Europe. I can’t wait to collaborate closely with you,” wrote the president of the commission (and Merz’s party companion), Ursula von der Leyen. “I await with interest to collaborate on an ambitious European European program. I look forward to our collaboration for a strong Europe”, the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, echoed.
Germany remains the locomotive of the blockage and, despite the false departure, finally has a new leadership, even if at the moment it appears less strong than what was hoped for. Merz is already expected tomorrow for a meeting in Paris with French president Emmanuel Macron. The visit, already planned even before the investiture, serves to show the world that the Franco-German axis is stronger than ever and ready to resume the reins of a Europe than never as it now needs to show itself compact and determined.
