Germany's Merz falls short of majority in vote for chancellor
Germany's Merz falls short of majority in vote for chancellor
www.bbc.com
Germany's Merz becomes chancellor after surviving historic vote failure
The conservative leader is sworn in, having won a parliament vote to become chancellor at the second attempt.
Germany's conservative leader has unexpectedly fallen short of the numbers needed to form a majority in parliament to become chancellor.
Friedrich Merz needed 316 votes in the 630-seat Bundestag but only secured 310, in a significant blow to the Christian Democrat leader, two and a half months after winning Germany's federal elections.
Two and a half months, they weren't joking about slow German bureaucracy 😱