Germany’s center-right leader Friedrich Merz suffered a brutal setback in his bid to become chancellor of Europe’s largest economy on Tuesday, winning 310 of the needed 316 votes in the 630-seat Bundestag and creating massive uncertainty as to what’s next, the BBC reports.
The Bundestag will have another 14 days to choose either Merz or another candidate as chancellor with more than half its members. Further turbulence could be a boon for the extremist Fourth Reich AfD, who responded to Merz’s shitshow by calling for a fresh round of elections.