[ZH] Germany's blue-chip DAX 40 index fell nearly 2% after a new political crisis erupted in Berlin, triggered by "conservative" leader (so conservative he reneged on his election promises to halt runaway speding and crammed through a fiscal timebomb in the last days of the previous government) Friedrich Merz's failed bid to become the country's 10th postwar chancellor.
Merz needed 316 votes out of 630 to secure the chancellorship but received only 310, falling short of a majority despite his coalition holding 328 seats. Because the vote was conducted by secret ballot, the identity of those within his own party who defected remains unknown. The outcome prevented his swearing in on Tuesday and pitching Europe’s biggest economy into uncharted territory.... |
