The largest economy in Europe faced an unprecedented political and financial crisis on Tuesday, after the conservative Friedrich Merz will fail surprisingly in his first attempt to be elected Chancellor of Germany, triggering a collapse in Frankfurt’s bag and causing the ultra -rightist Alternative for Germany (AFD) demanded new electoral elections.
In an unprecedented event in the history of the German Federal Republic, Merz failed to obtain the necessary majority of 316 votes in the Bundestag (Lower Chamber of Parliament), falling short of just six votes. Of the total of 630 deputies, 621 cast their vote: 310 legislators voted in favor of the Christian -democratic leader, 307 against, also registering a null vote and three abstentions.
“Deputy Friedrich Merz has not obtained the necessary majority of at least 316 votes. In accordance with section 2 of article 63 of the Fundamental Law, he has not been elected Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,” announced the president of the lower house, Julia Klöckner, before suspending the session to allow consultations between parliamentary groups.
Falling vote represents a severe political blow to Merzespecially because the negotiated coalition between the conservative block – formed by the Cristianodemocrata Union (CDU) and his sister Bavara Social Christian Union (CSU) – and him Social Democratic Party (SPD) Theoretically had a margin of twelve votes. When all the deputies of this coalition are present, which total 328 seats, the result indicates that At least 18 parliamentarians of the block voted against Merz or abstained.
The situation is particularly humiliating for the conservative leader, who had barely assured with the co -president of the SPD and designated Vice Chancellor, Lars Klingbeil, who had guaranteed the election in the first round.
The financial markets reacted immediately to political uncertainty. The Frankfurt bag fell 1.4%leading to index DAX 40 at 23,006.77 points after knowing the result of the vote. The stock market debacle practically affected all the values of the German selectivewith only two exceptions: the Dialysis Services Freenenius Medical Care company, which rose 3.9% thanks to its results, and the Energy E.ON, with a modest increase of 0.2%.
Political instability also hit the currency marketcausing one EUROD FALL AGAINST THE DOLLAR. The single European currency was changed at noon to $ 1,1320, below $ 1,1361 registered in the last hours of the negotiation of the previous day.
The main ones European bags They were also affected by the German political crisis, reversing an initially positive opening. The Spanish Ibex 35 retreated 0.26% to 13,483.2 points, while the British FTEse fell 0.19% and the French CAC 0.73%. Particularly affected were Nordic indices, with the Swedish OMXS30 collapsing 1.25% and the Danish OMXC 25 giving 1.06%. The paneuropeo index STOXX600 It fell 0.57%, reflecting the generalized concern in the continent markets.
In USAthe futures of the main stock market indices also registered important falls Waiting for the start of the Federal Reserve meeting, while investors evaluated the impact of the German crisis and tariffs imposed by President Trump. The futures of the S&P 500 retreated 0.7%, those of the Dow Jones fell approximately 0.6%, and the Nasdaq 100 contracts, of a technological component, led the losses with a decrease of almost 1%.
The ultra -rightist Alternative for Germanysecond force more voted in the February elections with 20.8% of the votes, it soon took advantage of Merz’s stumbling.
“We are willing to assume government responsibilities And we can only ask for common sense to prevail. Mr. Merz should resign immediately and the path to new elections in our country should be paved, ”he said Alice WeidelCo -president of AFD, who also strongly criticized the conservative leader pointing out that “the fact that a person like Friedrich Merz, who has caught attention to breach all his electoral promises, is presented to the election to Chancellor says a lot of the political state” of Germany.
For its part, Tino Krrupallaalso co -chair of ultra -rightist training, described the day as “A good day for Germany” And he affirmed that it has been demonstrated “what is really worth this coalition, if you do not even get the majority in the first round of the vote for the chancellor’s choice.”
Chrupalla insisted that AFD is prepared to assume government responsibilitiessupporting recent surveys that place their Training first in intention to voteahead of the conservative block. “It would be good if Friedrich Merz did not appear to the second and third voting roundthat the CDU also realizes that there will not be a new beginning in Germany, ”he added.
The ultra -right -wing co -president also pointed out that The failure in the vote “also shows who really carries the pants” in the coalitionpointing to a SPD that, according to him, “clearly does not want to follow his future chancellor and will not follow him.”
In accordance with the procedure established in the German Fundamental Law, after this failure in the first round it opens a second electoral phase within a maximum period of 14 days. For this new vote, Merz can apply again, although also You could choose another candidate.
If this second phase is not successful, Parliament must vote immediately in a third phase. In the modern history of Germany, had never presented a similar situationalthough there were cases of very tight elections, such as Konrad Adenauer, first chancellor of the Federal Republic, who in 1949 obtained the majority for only a ballot, or that of Helmut Kohl In 1994, who won by a single vote.
The current situation raises Questions about the political stability of the largest European economy. The negotiated coalition between conservatives and social democrats emerged after the early elections of February 23, in which the CDU/CSU conservative block obtained the greatest parliamentary representation, followed by AFD and then by the AFD Foreign Minister’s SPD, Olaf Scholz.
Merz’s failure to be chosen in the first round could indicate deep internal divisions in the coalition, particularly among social democratic deputies, some of whom could have voted against the conservative candidate despite the agreements reached by their leaders.
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