Christian Democrat candidate for German chancellor Friedrich Merz failed in his first attempt to be elected in the Bundestag on Tuesday.
To become head of government, Merz needed to secure the support of 316 MPs. However, during the vote, he only received 310 votes. 307 MPs voted against him, and three abstained. There are 630 MPs in the Bundestag.
Two more rounds of voting are still possible.
This is the first time in the history of Germany that a candidate has failed to secure support in the first round after successful coalition negotiations. Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz won the first round of the secret ballot, with 395 of the 736 MPs voting for him.
