Merz wins after delay

FRIEDRICH Merz eventually succeeded yesterday in his bid to become the next Chancellor of Germany during a second vote in the country's parliament, hours after he had suffered a historic defeat in the first round.

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The conservative leader had been expected to smoothly win the vote to become the nation's 10th Chancellor since the Second World War.

No candidate for the post in post-war Germany had failed to win on the first ballot.

Mr Merz received 325 votes in the second ballot. He needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot, but only received 310 votes in the first round - well short of the 328 seats held by his coalition. Because the votes were secret ballots, it was not immediately clear - and it might never be known - who had defected from Mr Merz's camp.