BERLIN, May 6 (Bernama-dpa) -- German conservative leader Friedrich Merz was elected by lawmakers as the country's new chancellor on Tuesday in the second round of voting on a dramatic day in the German parliament, German News Agency (dpa) reported.
Merz secured the necessary absolute majority, receiving 325 votes in the 630-seat Bundestag - Germany's lower house of parliament - hours after his historic defeat in the first vote.
The initial failure was a major embarrassment for Merz, whose incoming coalition - comprised of his Christian Democrats (CDU), the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU) and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) - holds 328 seats in the Bundestag.
However, the 69-year-old prevailed in a second ballot, and he is now set to be formally sworn in by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, succeeding Olaf Scholz as chancellor.
-- BERNAMA-dpa
