BERLIN, May 6, (AP): Conservative leader Friedrich Merz ’s bid to become Germany’s 10th chancellor since World War II failed in the first round of voting in parliament on Tuesday by six votes, a vote he had been widely expected to win smoothly. Merz needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot. He only received 310 votes.

The parties were now to regroup to discuss the next step but it was not immediately clear how long the process could take. The lower house of parliament - called the Bundestag - has 14 days to elect a candidate with an absolute majority. If that also fails, the constitution allows for the president to appoint the candidate who wins the most votes as chancellor, or to dissolve the Bundestag and hold a new national election.

Merz is seeking to take the helm of the 27-nation European Union’ s most populous member after outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government collapsed last year. Germany has the continent’s biggest economy and serves as a diplomatic heavyweight. Merz's portfolio would include the war in Ukraine and the Trump administration’s trade policy on top of domestic issues such as the stagnant economy and the rise of a far-right, anti-immigrant party.

Merz needs to win over at least 316 of 630 lawmakers in the Bundestag. The vote comes on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Germany’s unconditional surrender. The secret ballots will be cast in the restored Reichstag, where graffiti left by Soviet troops has been preserved at several places in the building. If he is elected, Merz will face questions about the future of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, also known as AfD.

Mainstream German political parties refuse to work with it, citing the so-called "firewall” they’ve upheld against cooperating with far-right parties since the end of the war. Last week, the German domestic intelligence service said it has classified AfD - which placed second in national elections in February - as a "right-wing extremist” organization, making it subject to greater and broader surveillance.