The leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz failed to gather the necessary majority in the Bundestag to be elected chancellor of Germany in the first vote, Reuters reported, BTA reports.
Merz received 310 votes out of a total of 630 deputies in the lower house of the German parliament - six less than needed for an absolute majority, DPA said.
The result is seen as a serious blow to the ambitions of the conservative leader, whose coalition with the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) has 328 seats - enough to be elected if all members vote in his favor.
Now, according to the German constitution, the Bundestag has 14 days to elect Merz or another candidate with a simple majority. If this does not happen, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will have seven days to appoint the chosen candidate or dissolve parliament and call new elections.