Friedrich Merz elected as new German chancellor

Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), was elected as Germany’s tenth chancellor since World War II in the second round of voting held on Tuesday in the German parliament.

The 69-year-old politician garnered 325 votes from the members of the German Bundestag in the second round. A total of 289 parliamentarians voted against him, with one abstention and three invalid votes.

In the first round, Merz failed to secure the required majority, obtaining only 310 votes, six short of the 316 needed for a majority.

The Christian Democratic Union is set to form the future coalition government with the Social Democratic Party.