Germany Election

Friedrich Merz elected German chancellor hours after historic defeat

Friedrich Merz succeeded Tuesday in his bid to become the next German chancellor during a second vote in parliament, hours after he suffered a historic defeat in the first round. The conservative leader had been expected to smoothly win the vote to become Germany's 10th chancellor since World War II. No candidate for chancellor in postwar Germany has failed to win on the first ballot. Merz received 325 votes in the second ballot. He needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot but only received 310 votes in the first round well short of the 328 seats held by his coalition.

German MPs to vote again for Chancellor after Merz loses first ballot

German lawmakers are set to vote on the next chancellor again on Tuesday afternoon, hours after Friedrich Merz failed to win the first round in parliament in a historic defeat. Merz, the conservative leader, had been expected to smoothly win the vote to become Germany's 10th chancellor since World War II. A candidate for chancellor has never failed to win on the first ballot in post-war Germany. Merz needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot but only received 310 votes well short of the 328 seats held by his coalition. The lower house of parliament has 14 days to elect a candidate with an absolute majority. Merz can run again, but other lawmakers can also throw their hat in the ring.

German lawmakers vote on Merz's bid to be chancellor, here's what to know

German lawmakers are set to vote Tuesday on whether conservative leader Friedrich Merz will become the country's 10th chancellor since World War II. Merz seeks to take the helm of the 27-nation European Union's most populous member after outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government collapsed last year. The country has the continent's biggest economy and serves as a diplomatic heavyweight. Merz's portfolio would include the war in Ukraine and the Trump administration's trade policy on top of domestic issues such as the stagnant economy and the rise of a far-right, anti-immigrant party. If Merz fails to win a majority, the lower house of parliament called the Bundestag has 14 days to elect a candidate with an absolute majority. If that also fails, the constitution allows for the president to appoint the candidate who wins the most votes as chancellor, or to dissolve the Bundestag and hold a new national election. 80th anniversary of World War II Merz needs to win over at least 31

Germany election results: What they mean for immigrants and migration

Merz has pledged to tighten immigration controls, introducing a five-point plan that includes stricter border checks, entry bans for undocumented migrants, and accelerated deportations

News updates: India proud of its contributions to UN peacekeeping, says EAM Jaishankar

Latest news: Catch all the major news updates from across the world

Oppn in Germany wins election, far right is 2nd with strongest result

German opposition leader Friedrich Merz's conservatives were on course for a lackluster victory in a national election Sunday, while Alternative for Germany nearly doubled its support, the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II, projections showed. Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat for his centre-left Social Democrats after what he called "a bitter election result". Projections for ARD and ZDF public television showed his party finishing in third place with its worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election. Merz vowed to move quickly to put together a coalition government. But that's likely to be a complicated task. The election took place seven months earlier than originally planned after Scholz's unpopular coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that was increasingly marred by infighting. There was widespread discontent and not much enthusiasm for any of the candidates. The campaign was dominated by worries about the years-lon

Here's why fixing Germany's economy a critical task for country's next govt

Germany needs a new business model. The old one, fuelled by cheap natural gas from Russia and lucrative exports to China, is broken, leaving Europe's biggest economy mired in stagnation and angst about the future. Delivering that fresh growth strategy is going to be the biggest challenge for the government that takes office after a national election set for Feb. 23, seven months ahead of schedule. The nation that became known for the quality of its products has not seen real economic growth for five years. Multiple factors conspired to take Germany from industrial powerhouse to post-pandemic straggler: too much bureaucracy, a shortage of skilled workers, slow deployment of technology and a lack of clear direction from the outgoing coalition government are among them. Rising competition from China and high energy prices due to Russia's war in Ukraine were additional hits. We really need a more company- and enterprise-friendly politics," Klaus Geissdoerfer, CEO of industrial fan ...

Germany's Scholz calls Trump's Gaza proposal 'scandal' in poll debate

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described President Donald Trump's suggestion that the US could take ownership of the Gaza Strip, relocate its population and redevelop it as a scandal in a pre-election debate Sunday. His main challenger also voiced unease but suggested there's a lot of rhetoric coming from Washington. The center-left Scholz and center-right challenger Friedrich Merz, the front-runner in the Feb. 23 election, discussed top domestic issues such as Germany's struggling economy and migration, and also addressed foreign policy three weeks into Trump's new term. Asked what he made of Trump's proposal to redevelop Gaza into the Riviera of the Middle East," Scholz replied: A scandal. Besides that, a really terrible expression," given the extent of the destruction that is now visible there. The relocation of populations is unacceptable and against international law, he added in the debate on ARD and ZDF public television. He pointed to the position of Egypt and Jordan. I shar

German govt seeks to downplay Musk's backing of AfD party ahead of election

The German government on Monday sought to downplay efforts by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk to get involved in the country's general election campaign by again endorsing the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party. Musk caused uproar over the weekend after backing the AfD in an opinion piece in a major newspaper, leading to the resignation of the paper's opinion editor in protest. Freedom of expression also includes the greatest nonsense," government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said, adding that should wouldn't comment further on Musk's statements. She did, however, say that it is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election through his statement." In that context, Hoffmann also pointed out that the AfD is being monitored by Germany's domestic intelligence service on suspicion of being right-wing extremist and that it has already been recognised as such in some individual German states. Germany is to vote in an early election on February 2

Elon Musk supports far-right AfD party in Germany through oped piece

Elon Musk, who endorsed Donald Trump's presidential bid in the US election, has also supported far-right political outfits in the UK

Germany's Scholz loses confidence vote, setting up early election in Feb

Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in the German parliament on Monday, putting the European Union's most populous member and biggest economy on course to hold an early election in February. Scholz won the support of 207 lawmakers in the 733-seat lower house, or Bundestag, while 394 voted against him and 116 abstained. That left him far short of the majority of 367 needed to win. Scholz leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed on Nov 6 when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize Germany's stagnant economy. Leaders of several major parties then agreed that a parliamentary election should be held on Feb 23, seven months earlier than originally planned. The confidence vote was needed because post-World War II Germany's constitution doesn't allow the Bundestag to dissolve itself. Now President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call an ...

German Chancellor Scholz to submit Parl request to hold confidence vote

Scholz has agreed with the opposition to hold the vote on Feb 23, setting Germany up for a short and wintry election campaign

German opposition leader Merz visits Ukraine amid snap election campaign

The Ukraine war is panning out to be one of the top issues in the campaign ahead of Germany's snap election, scheduled for Feb. 23 after the collapse of Scholz's fractious coalition

German far-left leader Wagenknecht turns power broker after state votes

The BSW, which wants to curb immigration and stop arming Ukraine, was founded only in January after splitting from the Left party

German State Secy invites Indians to explore opportunities in Germany

Leonie Gebers emphasised the great potential of India and expressed Germany's interest in collaborating across different sectors

German industry association expects economy to barely grow in 2024

Russwurm urged Germany's coalition parties to find an agreement and move forward, saying paralysis would be the worst of all scenarios

German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier re-elected for another term

The president was elected with a big majority by a special assembly made up of the members of parliament's lower house and representatives of Germany's 16 states

German poll results now official, Scholz closes in on Chancellorship

Almost three weeks after the federal election of Germany's 20th Bundestag or lower house of Parliament, the Federal Electoral Committee officially confirmed the final result

German companies urge the next government to step up on climate

Dozens of large German companies have urged the country's next government to put in place ambitious policies to meet the goals of the Paris climate accord.

Majority of Germans want Scholz to form coalition with Greens, FDP: Poll

A continuation of the current grand coalition between SPD and CDU/CSU was the least favoured option with 22 per cent,according to the survey conducted among just over 1,200 people.