- cross-posted to:
- Europe
- cross-posted to:
- Europe
Incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suffered an embarrassing setback when he fell short of a majority in an initial vote in the lower house of parliament, potentially delaying his swearing-in as head of government due to take place later on Tuesday.
Two reasons. First, the required majority can be lowered to vote him in with a simple majority, if no absolute majority can be achieved (this will not happen right away). Second, the members who broke rank probably only wanted to send a message, so it’s likely that they’ll change their vote back to the party line (this may happen fairly soon).
Ah right, that makes sense, thanks! (Thanks to the other repliers as well.)