Friedrich Merz denied Germany’s chancellor seat in stunning defeat. Here’s what’s next.

By STEFANIE DAZIO and KIRSTEN GRIESHABER BERLIN AP In a historic first conservative leader Friedrich Merz s bid to become Germany s th chancellor since World War II failed by six votes in parliament on Tuesday a stunning defeat as he had been widely expected to win smoothly Related Articles Trump administration says it ll pay immigrants in the US illegally to leave the country George Ryan dies at former Illinois governor halted executions but went to prison amid corruption shame Kohl s fires CEO Ashley Buchanan for cause US Forest Operation starts clearing homeless camp in Oregon national forest Tesla reportedly searching for CEO to replace Musk A candidate for chancellor has never failed to win on the first ballot since the end of the war The loss triggered a stock realm slide the DAX the index of major German companies was down following the vote Merz needed a majority of out of votes He only received votes well short of the seats held by his coalition which is also one of the slimmest postwar majorities Because the vote was held by secret ballot it was not without delay clear and might never be known who had defected from Merz s camp Merz s coalition is led by his center-right Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union They are joined by the center-left Social Democrats outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz s party The parties were now to regroup to discuss the next step but it was also unclear how long the process could take Merz is seeking to take the helm of the -nation European Union s majority of populous member after Scholz s authorities collapsed last year and a national electoral process was held in February Scholz despite his official farewell on Monday remains in a caretaker role until a new chancellor takes over Germany has the continent s biggest market and serves as a diplomatic heavyweight The new chancellor s portfolio would include the war in Ukraine and the Trump administration s arrangement protocol on top of domestic issues such as Germany s stagnant business activity and the rise of a far-right anti-immigrant party The world is in turmoil Europe requirements a strong Germany Carsten Linnemann the secretary-general of the Christian Democrats advised reporters after Merz s loss He revealed a second vote should come soon We can t wait for days now we need clarity expeditiously What s next The lower house of parliament called the Bundestag has 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 within the days the constitution allows for the president to appoint the candidate who wins the preponderance votes as chancellor or to dissolve the Bundestag and hold a new national electoral process Johann Wadepuhl the designated next foreign minister stated he was confident Merz would ultimately prevail It is an annoying process but in a parliamentary democracy in a liberal country this is unfortunately one of the scenarios that you have to be prepared for he narrated reporters Volker Resing who wrote the up-to-date biography Friedrich Merz His Path to Power expressed surprise at the turn of events It shows how fragile the coalition s situation is and that selected lawmakers are prepared to spread uncertainty that s a warning signal Resing notified The Associated Press Resing disclosed 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 he added Alice Weidel co-leader of the far-right anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party slammed Merz s failure proof that his coalition has a weak foundation She called for Merz to resign this instant and for new elections to be held AfD is the biggest opposition party in Germany s new parliament after it placed second in national elections in February Despite its historic gains it was shut out of coalition talks due to the so-called firewall that mainstream German political parties have upheld against cooperating with far-right parties since the end of the war th anniversary of World War II Tuesday s vote was held on the eve of the th anniversary of Germany s unconditional surrender in World War II The ballots are 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 Germany rose to that rank thanks to an commitment of billion euros billion for its armed forces a measure passed by lawmakers in The country s defense spending rose again earlier this year when parliament loosened the nation s strict debt rules 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 safety assistance on the continent Besides ramping up defense spending Merz s coalition has pledged to spur economic increase take a tougher approach to migration and catch up on long-neglected modernization Germany and the Trump administration The U S administration has bashed Germany repeatedly since President Donald Trump s inauguration in January Trump who has German roots had often expressed his dislike of former Chancellor Angela Merkel during his first term in office This time around Trump s lieutenants are at the forefront tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk has supported AfD for months He hosted a chat with Weidel that he livestreamed on X earlier this year to amplify her party s message Vice President JD Vance during the Munich Guard Conference in February assailed the firewall and later met with Weidel a move that German authorities heavily criticized Last week the German domestic intelligence operation commented it has classified AfD as a right-wing extremist organization making it subject to greater and broader surveillance The decision by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution prompted blowback from U S Secretary of State Marco Rubio and 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 facility 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 cabinet through the Federal Constitutional Court Merz has not commented publicly on the intelligence function s decision Associated Press videojournalist Fanny Brodersen in Berlin and writer David McHugh in Frankfurt Germany contributed to this account