Merz set to be elected chancellor on 6 May
The plans have been rumoured for several days, and now it is official: if all goes smoothly, Germany will have a new government in three weeks’ time.
Berlin (dpa) - Two and a half months after the Bundestag elections, CDU leader Friedrich Merz is set to be elected chancellor by parliament on 6 May.
The Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, has announced that its President Julia Klöckner is making the necessary preparations for this date. This is subject to the coalition treaty being approved by the Christian Democratic parties CDU and CSU and the Social Democratic SPD.
The CDU will decide on the coalition treaty at a small party conference on 28 April, while the executive committee of its Bavarian sister party CSU has already approved it. From Tuesday, the SPD’s members will have until 29 April to vote on the 144-page treaty. Approval of the coalition treaty requires not only a majority of the votes, but also the participation of at least 20 percent of the party’s members in the solely digital vote.
If Merz is elected chancellor, his cabinet is also likely to be sworn in on 6 May in the Bundestag. Then the new government could commence its work exactly half a year after the collapse of the so-called traffic light coalition led by SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz on 6 November 2024.