Friedrich Merz fails to secure Bundestag majority: will there be a second vote for chancellor?

In an unprecedented turn of events, Germany’s conservative leader Friedrich Merz failed to secure the parliamentary majority required to become chancellor, just months after his bloc won the federal elections. Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), received 310 votes in the 630-seat Bundestag — six short of the 316 needed for an absolute […]