The parties were now to regroup to discuss the next step but it was not immediately clear how long the process could take.
Merz is seeking to take the helm of the 27-nation European Union' s most populous member after outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government collapsed last year.
Germany has the continent's biggest economy and serves as a diplomatic heavyweight. The new chancellor's portfolio would include the war in Ukraine and the Trump administration's trade policy on top of domestic issues, such as Germany's stagnant economy and the rise of a far-right, anti-immigrant party.
What's next?
The lower house of parliament — called the Bundestag — 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. There is no limit to the number of votes that can be held within the two-week period.
If Merz or any other candidate fails to get that majority during the period of 14 days, 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.
Volker Resing, who wrote the recent biography “Friedrich Merz: His Path to Power,” expressed surprise at the turn of events, something he said that “has never happened before” in post-war Germany.
“It shows how fragile the coalition’s situation is and that some lawmakers are prepared to spread uncertainty — that’s a warning signal,” Resing told The Associated Press after the vote.
Resing added that if Merz gets elected in the second round, then everything will be fine and people may soon forget about this hiccup.
But “for now everything is wide open,” Resing added.
80th anniversary of World War II
Tuesday's vote was held on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Germany’s unconditional surrender in World War II. The ballots are secret and cast in the restored Reichstag, where graffiti left by Soviet troops has been preserved at several locations in the building.
The shadow of the war in Ukraine also loomed over Tuesday's vote. Germany is the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine, after the United States.
Overall, Germany is the fourth largest defense spender in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which studies trends in global military expenditures. Only the U.S., China and Russia are ahead of it.
Germany rose to that rank thanks to an investment of 100 billion euros ($107 billion) for its armed forces, a measure passed by lawmakers in 2022.
The country’s defense spending rose again earlier this year, when parliament loosened the nation’s strict debt rules for higher defense spending. It's a move that's been closely watched by the rest of Europe as the Trump administration has threatened to pull back from its security support on the continent.
AfD's rise
Merz's failure in the voting adds to the challenges ahead — whoever is elected chancellor will face questions about the future of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, also known as AfD.
Mainstream German political parties refuse to work with AfD, citing the so-called "firewall" they've upheld against cooperating with far-right parties since the end of the war.
Last week, the German domestic intelligence service said it has classified AfD — which placed second in national elections in February — as a "right-wing extremist" organization, making it subject to greater and broader surveillance.
Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution described the party as a threat to the country's democratic order, saying it "disregards human dignity" — in particular by what it called "ongoing agitation" against refugees and migrants.
The federal office's decision prompted blowback from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Vice President JD Vance over the weekend. Germany's Foreign Ministry hit back at Rubio after he called on the country to undo the classification.
The domestic intelligence service's measure does not amount to a ban of the party, which can only take place through a request by either of parliament’s two chambers or the federal government through the Federal Constitutional Court.
Merz has not commented publicly on the intelligence service’s decision.
The new coalition
Germany's new coalition is led by Merz's center-right Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, and joined by the center-left Social Democrats, Scholz's party. All three parties previously approved the coalition deal.
The coalition aims to spur economic growth, ramp up defense spending, take a tougher approach to migration and catch up on long-neglected modernization.
The Union and Social Democrats have governed Germany together before, in the 1960s, and then in three of the four terms of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, who led the country from 2005 to 2021.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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