Which of the following statements is/are correct about recently elected Chancellor of Germany Mr. Friedrich Merz? 1. He lost in the first round of voting. 2. His coalition includes Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union. Select the answer using the code given below.

Friedrich Merz was elected as the 10th Chancellor of Germany on May 6, 2025, following a historic and unprecedented voting process in the Bundestag. Statement 1 is correct because Merz failed to secure the required absolute majority in the first round of voting, falling short by six votes. This was the first time in post-war German history that a chancellor candidate lost the initial ballot [1]. Statement 2 is also correct as Merz leads the conservative alliance consisting of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) [1]. For the 2025 government, this CDU/CSU alliance formed a coalition with the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) to secure a governing majority. Merz eventually won the chancellorship in a second round of voting with 325 votes [1].

Sources

1. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgp22zlrgko