There is some astonishing shoddiness in this New York Times report about a new government in Germany.
What to Know About Germany’s New Government – (archived) – New York Times, May 6 2025
The piece is by Christopher F. Schuetze, who is "Reporting from Berlin"
Just consider this part:
Swearing in a chancellor in Germany is a parliamentary procedure that is associated with much less pomp — but much more commuting — than its American equivalent.
First, Mr. Merz has to be elected chancellor by the 630-seat Parliament. The coalition holds 360 of those seats. It’s not a big majority, but since there’s no reason for anyone to stray from party lines, he is expected to win the simple majority needed on the first round. …
bigger
The coalition, which was finalized only yesterday, consists of the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU or 'the Union') and Social Democrats (SPD). Their combined number of seats is 328 (208+120). The NYT claims that the total number of seats for the coalition is 360. That would be the case if the Union had formed a coalition with the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) which is competing with it for conservative votes.
bigger
Not only did the NYT writer get the basic numbers wrong. He also demonstrates a total lack of insight into the mood within the coalition: "[T]here’s no reason for anyone to stray from party lines," writes the Times. Well, it turns out that there are many such reasons.
As a result of them Merz has failed to get enough votes:
German conservative leader Friedrich Merz failed to secure enough parliamentary votes to become chancellor on Tuesday in a major blow that threw politics in Europe's largest economy once more into disarray.
Merz, 69, who led his CDU/CSU conservatives to a federal election victory in February and signed a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), won just 310 votes in the secret ballot in the lower house, the Bundestag, six short of an absolute majority. It meant at least 18 coalition MPs had failed to back him.
Merz is disliked by many of his party members. His personal style is rather dictatorial. He had campaigned on fiscal restrain only to turn around, immediately after the election, to lift constitutional debt restrictions.
Nine lawmakers abstained while 307 voted against Merz, said Bundestag President Julia Kloeckner.
Merz, visibly shocked, rose to confer with colleagues. Party insiders had on Monday expressed confidence that he would secure a majority.
Merz is disliked not only within his own party but also by the public. A recent poll put him on rank 13 of the most favored current politicians.
Only 38% of Germans think that he will be a good chancellor. 52% says he will be a bad one, (10% don't know).
Merz is now the first ever candidate for chancellor who has failed to win his confirmation vote.
He is not enough though to knock him out. There will be a second vote and then a third in which a relative majority will be sufficient to get him elected.
For lack of decent policies and politicians Europe is self-destructing. Merz, just like Starmer in Britain and Macron in France, will try to rule tyrannically.
But without a convinced majority behind him he will have to rule much more cautiously than he would like.