SHOTLIST: BERLIN, GERMANY (MAY 6, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL) 1. STEFFEN BILGER OF THE CDU SPEAKING 2. BERND BAUMANN OF THE AFD SPEAKING 3. KATJA MAST OF THE SPD SPEAKINGBERLIN, GERMANY - MAY 6, 2025: The German parliament gathered to hold a second round of chancellor vote Tuesday afternoon after conservative leader Friedrich Merz failed to secure the required majority in the first round. Earlier on Tuesday, CDU/CSU leader Friedrich Merz failed to secure the required majority in the first round of voting—an unexpected development that raised concerns about the stability of the proposed coalition government. In the secret ballot, 310 members of parliament voted for Merz, while 307 voted against him. He needed an absolute majority of at least 316 votes to be elected chancellor. The surprise setback for Merz came despite his Christian Democrat alliance and its junior coalition partner, the SPD, holding a comfortable majority of 328 seats in the Bundestag. During the vote, three lawmakers abstained and one vote was invalid. Nine parliamentarians were absent due to illness or other reasons. Due to the secret ballot, it remained unclear how many lawmakers from the coalition parties voted against Merz's chancellorship and what their party affiliations were.