1 week Ago By The Associated Press
BERLIN (AP) — The German parliament plans to meet on May 6 to elect Friedrich Merz as the country's next leader, if all the parties in his proposed government approve a coalition agreement reached last week. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * To continue reading, please subscribe: *$1 will be added to your next bill. After your 4 weeks access is complete your rate will increase by $0.
00 a X percent off the regular rate. BERLIN (AP) — The German parliament plans to meet on May 6 to elect Friedrich Merz as the country's next leader, if all the parties in his proposed government approve a coalition agreement reached last week. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? BERLIN (AP) — The German parliament plans to meet on May 6 to elect Friedrich Merz as the country’s next leader, if all the parties in his proposed government approve a coalition agreement reached last week.
Parliament’s lower house, the Bundestag, said Monday that Speaker Julia Klöckner is preparing to call the session early next month. Merz will need a majority of all members of the house to be elected as post-World War II Germany’s 10th chancellor, succeeding Olaf Scholz. The proposed coalition of his center-right Christian Democratic Union; its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union; and Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats has a relatively modest majority, with 328 of the 630 seats.
Since no party wants to work with the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, which finished second in Germany’s election in February, no other plausible combination of governing parties has a parliamentary majority. There are still two hurdles to clear before parliament can vote. The biggest is a ballot of the Social Democrats’ membership on the coalition agreement, which starts on Tuesday and ends on April 29.
The CDU also must approve the accord at a party convention set for April 28, while the CSU’s leadership already approved it last week. The would-be coalition aims to spur economic growth, ramp up defense spending, take a tougher approach to migration and catch up on long-neglected modernization. But there is some resistance in the Social Democrats’ ranks after the party finished third in February with its worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election.
The party’s youth wing has come out against the deal. During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. Party co-leader Lars Klingbeil said Sunday he is confident that a majority of members will say it’s right for the Social Democrats to “take responsibility for Germany.
” “There are always alternatives. ..
. One alternative is new elections, one alternative is perhaps a minority government,” Klingbeil told ARD television. But in today’s troubled times, “Germany must be a place of stability,” he added.
“For that, we need a stable democratic government, and we have presented a sensible coalition agreement for that.” Advertisement Advertisement.
