German conservative leader Friedrich Merz failed to garner the parliamentary majority needed to become chancellor on Tuesday in an unexpected setback for his new coalition with the center-left Social Democrats.
The lower house of parliament, or Bundestag, now has 14 days to elect Merz or another candidate chancellor with an outright majority.
Merz's conservative CDU-CSU bloc won national elections in February but with 28.5% of the vote, it needs at least one partner.