How difficult his chancellery could be became apparent when he failed to get confirmed in a first round of voting Tuesday.

The morning of May 6th was meant to be a routine final stage in the choreography of the handover of power to Friedrich Merz as chancellor, with a vote of MPs in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament.

BERLIN (AP) — Friedrich Merz succeeded Tuesday in his bid to become the next German chancellor during a second vote in parliament, hours after he suffered a historic defeat in the first round.