The political dimension of Friedrich Merz’s start as a lame duck Chancellor of Germany yesterday is given not only by the failed first vote in the Bundestag, in which CDU/CSU members voted against him, but also by the fact that he had to ask for votes from the Linke (Left) and the Greens in order to get a second vote going that same day.
After the first vote, the Bundestag session was interrupted for four hours, officially for consultation. The CDU/CSU used this time to negotiate with the Linke and the Greens; the reasons: the Bundestag’s rules of procedure stipulated that the second round of voting should not have taken place on Tuesday, May 6. This could only be overridden with a two-thirds majority.
