Germany's conservative leader Friedrich Merz won a nail-biting second parliamentary vote Tuesday to become chancellor after he lost the first round in a stunning early setback.
Merz, 69, scored an absolute majority of 325 to 289 in the second secret vote in the lower house of parliament to become the new leader of Europe's biggest economy.
Merz's win was bittersweet as the initial defeat -- the first such outcome in Germany's post-war history -- pointed to rumblings of discontent within his uneasy coalition.
A Bild daily headline called the outcome "the Happy End after the Betrayal".
Merz takes over at the helm of a coalition between his CDU/CSU alliance and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier appointed Merz as post-war Germany's 10th chancellor before the new premier's expected visit to Paris and then Warsaw on Wednesday.
"With a slight delay, but all the more heartfelt, my congratulations on your election," Steinmeier told Merz at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin. "I wish you every success in what lies ahead."
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ