DogoWaNjombe
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 7, 2022
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Friedrich Merz, amechaguliwa kuwa Kansela mpya wa Ujerumani siku ya Jumanne, katika duru ya pili ya upigaji kura, baada ya kushindwa kwa mshangao katika duru ya kwanza mapema siku hiyo. Merz amepata kura 325 kati ya 630.
Kiongozi wa chama cha kihafidhina nchini Ujerumani, Friedrich Merz, amechaguliwa kuwa Kansela mpya wa nchi hiyo Jumanne hii katika duru ya pili ya upigaji kura, baada ya kushindwa kwa mshangao katika duru ya kwanza mapema siku hiyo. Katika kura hiyo ya pili, Merz alipata kura 325 kati ya 630 katika Bunge la Shirikisho (Bundestag), akivuka kiwango cha kura 316 kinachohitajika kwa wingi wa moja kwa moja.
Kushindwa kwa mara ya kwanza kulisababisha fedheha kubwa kwa Merz, hasa ikizingatiwa kuwa muungano anaouongoza—unaojumuisha vyama vya CDU (Christian Democratic Union), chama ndugu CSU cha Bavaria, na SPD (Social Democratic Party)—unashikilia viti 328 bungeni. Hili lilizusha maswali kuhusu mshikamano ndani wa muungano huo, na kulazimisha mashauriano ya haraka ya kisiasa na kisheria.
Baada ya mchakato huo wa pili, Merz sasa anatarajiwa kuapishwa rasmi na Rais Frank-Walter Steinmeier katika Ikulu ya Bellevue mjini Berlin, na hivyo kuchukua nafasi ya Kansela anayeondoka, Olaf Scholz.
Hatua Mpya Katika Siasa za Ujerumani
Kabla ya ushindi huo wa pili, hali ya kisiasa nchini Ujerumani ilikuwa imeingia katika sintofahamu. Katiba ya Msingi ya Ujerumani inaruhusu hadi siku 14 kwa bunge kumchagua Kansela kwa wingi kamili, na hakukuwa na kikomo cha duru za upigaji kura. Baada ya majadiliano na wanasheria, muungano wa Merz uliitisha duru ya pili ya kura saa 9:15 alasiri kwa saa za Berlin.
Japokuwa wagombea wengine waliruhusiwa kuingia kwenye kinyang’anyiro, vyama vya muungano vilisisitiza kuwa Merz angali mgombea wao pekee. Kilichosababisha kushindwa kwake katika duru ya kwanza bado hakijaelezwa wazi, ikizingatiwa kura hiyo ilikuwa ya siri.
Serikali ya Scholz itaendelea na shughuli hadi Merz atakapokabidhiwa rasmi madaraka. Uchaguzi wa Februari uliomweka Merz karibu na madaraka ulifuatia kuvunjika kwa serikali ya awali ya muungano wa Scholz mnamo Novemba, hali iliyochochea mazungumzo ya wiki kadhaa yaliyomalizika kwa makubaliano ya serikali mpya.
Makubaliano hayo yalitiwa saini Jumatatu mjini Berlin, yakitarajiwa kufuatwa na uapisho wa Merz Jumanne. Hata hivyo, ushindi wa Merz ulizuiwa ghafla katika duru ya kwanza, ukionyesha mivutano ya ndani ya muungano wake.
Kuchaguliwa kwa Friedrich Merz kama Kansela wa kumi wa Ujerumani tangu kumalizika kwa Vita vya Pili vya Dunia ni mafanikio ya kihistoria baada ya safari ndefu ya kisiasa iliyojumuisha migongano ya muda mrefu na uongozi wa Angela Merkel. Ushindi wake unakuja katika kipindi cha changamoto nyingi kwa siasa za Ujerumani na Ulaya kwa ujumla.
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Germany's Merz becomes chancellor after surviving historic vote failure
Conservative leader Friedrich Merz has won a parliament vote to become Germany's next chancellor at the second attempt.
Merz had initially fallen six votes short of the absolute majority he needed on Tuesday morning - a significant blow to his prestige and an unprecedented failure in post-war German history.
As it was a secret ballot in the 630-seat Bundestag, there was no indication who had refused to back him - whether MPs from his centre-left coalition partner or his own conservatives.
After hours of uncertainty in the Bundestag, the parties and the president of the Bundestag agreed to hold a second vote, which Merz then won with 325 votes, a majority of nine.
His coalition with the Social Democrats should have had enough seats in parliament from the start, with 328 MPs in total, but it is thought 18 of them dissented during the first vote.
No chancellor candidate has lost a Bundestag vote in the 76 years since democracy was restored in Germany in 1949, and there was a prevailing mood of confusion in parliament in the hours after the vote.
Under Germany's constitution, there is no limit to how many votes can be held but in practice another defeat for Merz would have meant a headache for his Christian Democrats, its sister party the Christian Social Union and their partner the Social Democrats.
The result meant a total debacle had been averted, declared one German news website.
Merz, 69, was then sworn in as chancellor by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and his team of 17 ministers were due to take office.
Bundestag President Julia Klöckner had originally been planning a follow-up vote on Wednesday, but Christian Democrat General Secretary Carsten Linnemann said it was important to press ahead.
"Europe needs a strong Germany, that's why we can't wait for days," he told German TV.
Parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn appealed to his colleagues' sense of responsibility: "All of Europe, perhaps the whole world, is watching this ballot."
Merz's defeat had been seen by political commentators as a humiliation, possibly inflicted by a handful of disaffected members of the Social Democrat SPD, which signed a coalition deal with his conservatives on Monday.
The Bundestag president told MPs that nine of the 630 MPs had been absent for the first vote while three had abstained and another ballot paper had been declared invalid.
Germany's new Europe Minister, Gunther Krichbaum, told the BBC that some MPs may have hoped for a ministerial or state secretary role and had their hopes dashed. He also pointed out that some young Social Democrats had publicly said they were not convinced by Merz.
However, SPD officials were adamant their party was fully committed to the coalition deal.
"It was a secret vote so nobody knows," senior Social Democrat MP Ralf Stegner told the BBC, "but I can tell you I don't have the slightest impression that our parliamentary group wouldn't have known our responsibility."
Krichbaum, a conservative, said the clear message was that "now we are today in the situation to create a stable government" to tackle Germany's big issues, including migration and the economy.
Far-right party Alternative for Germany, which came second in the February election with 20.8% of the vote, seized on Merz's initial failure and called for fresh elections.
Joint leader Alice Weidel wrote on X that the vote showed "the weak foundation on which the small coalition has been built between the [conservatives] and SPD, which was rejected by voters".
Source: BBC
