Recommendations of the Editorial team
The majority of the members of the Bundestag looked as petrified when Bundestag President Julia Klöckner announced the result of the secreted Chancellor election. 310 votes – that was not enough.
Friedrich Merz, who had worked for this moment for years and had to put up with some sometimes even bitter political defeats, was embarrassed. No Chancellor in the history of the Federal Republic failed in the first ballot. It was foreseeable after the difficult preparation of the past few weeks, the belief that the courage to chaos was greater than the desire for unity was missing.
Before it was still 325 votes in the late Tuesday afternoon (316), there were hectic discussions between the parliamentarians and leader. It is unclear who Merz refused to consent.
Merz and his coalition have to regain trust
But it doesn’t matter for the devastating impression that this bumpy Chancellor’s name now makes. The government’s start is screwed in, the confidence in the political cohesion of the coalition is badly damaged on the first day. If the in the future governing doubts, what should the voter think?
Apparently, both CDU boss Friedrich Merz as well as SPD chairman and future Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil have expected their followers too much in the run-up to the coalition negotiations. Was the tax debt hammer too much for the Union? Do the comrades Merz distrust that he really supports social democratic politics?
You don’t have to agree with the alarmists, which lately loud. It is not a devastating signal for democracy if a chancellor is only chosen in the second ballot. However, it is very well a sign that some members of the Bundestag apparently have more interest in giving a chancellor a memo than supporting a political culture that ultimately only aims: to conjure up unity and to establish ability to act.
Politics that only look at is doomed to failure
The small grand coalition is now starting with weakened chancellor and a good mortgage in the first phase of its reign, which with a recession, Ukraine war, Gaza conflict, structural change, migration pressure and a heated socio-political situation certainly has enough challenges.
Should give courage that playful trust can be recovered, this does not even require a ban procedure against the AfD. It is sufficient to face the circumstances, to work on the recognized problems and, firstly, to explain the (painful) cuts to the population and, first of all, to win them to ensure that this effort will be worth it in the end.