Lars Klingbeil, believes conservative Friedrich Merz will garner enough support from lawmakers to become chancellor in a second round of voting, after falling short by just six votes hours earlier. Klingbeil said Merz's conservative bloc and the SPD - which agreed to form Germany's next coalition government - as well as the opposition Greens and The Left party had agreed to request a second round of voting to take place in the afternoon.

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz failed to secure enough parliamentary votes to become chancellor in a major blow.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Conservative Friedrich Merz is set to be sworn in on Tuesday as Germany's new chancellor at a critical juncture as the economy battles its longest post-war downturn, relations with top security ally the United States fray and the far-right surges.