Explained | What to know about Germany's new government

Germany is probably at its most perilous moment since reunification 35 years ago. Even before President Donald Trump announced tariffs, Germany’s economy was in a slump. On top of it all, the far-right AfD is surging in the polls and running neck and neck with Merz’s CDU.

Berlin: Exactly six months after Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition imploded, Friedrich Merz, a conservative Christian Democrat, will be sworn in as Germany’s next chancellor Tuesday.

The swearing-in comes after less than two months of negotiation between the Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, which came in first with 28.5 per cent of the vote, and the incumbent Social Democrats, known as SPD, which came in third with just 16.5 per cent.

Merz, 69, who took a decade-long break from politics after he was passed over in favor of Angela Merkel, has never held any government office. A talented and engaging speaker, he has made clear his ambition to return Germany to a leadership role in Europe.

What challenges does the new government face?

Germany is probably at its most perilous moment since reunification 35 years ago.

Even before President Donald Trump announced tariffs, Germany’s economy was in a slump. China, once a booming market for exports, has lost its taste for German luxury cars and other German exports. Because of the sanctions on Russian gas, energy is expensive. And labor costs are higher than average, while public infrastructure is failing.

Germany also appears at risk of losing the American security guarantees that, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, allowed it to invest relatively little in defense.

On top of it all, the far-right AfD, which Germany’s domestic intelligence service labeled “extremist” last week, is surging in the polls and running neck and neck with Merz’s CDU.

Who will help Merz run the country?

Some of the choices for Merz’s Cabinet have surprised political watchers.

Merz has tapped several people from the private sector, an exceedingly rare decision for Germany’s federal government. Most people up for the job of minister have been in high-level politics for years.

Karsten Wildberger, for example, led MediaMarktSaturn, Germany’s biggest electronics retailer, until this year. Now he will try to help Germany move into the 21st century as its first digitization and modernization minister.

Katherina Reiche, who will be the first woman to lead the Economy Ministry, ran a big regional electricity provider.

Both have reportedly taken big pay cuts to run their ministries.

Merz named only seven of the 17 ministers who will be sworn in under him. A Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, named three, and the SPD named seven.

Boris Pistorius, the very popular Social Democratic defense minister, will stay in his post, which is also rare in German politics. Lars Klingbeil, the head of the Social Democrats, will get the post of vice chancellor and finance minister.

But the SPD has also bet on a number of younger, lesser-known politicians to fill their ministries.

Verena Hubertz, who is 37 and co-founded Kitchen Stories, a cooking platform, will lead the Ministry of Housing.

Uwe Jun, a political science professor and keen watcher of Berlin politics, said that while some of the choices made by the parties were unorthodox, both were trying to deliver on the promise of political change.

“The parties want to present new faces, and that has ultimately led to one or two surprises in the selection,” he said, “but they have one thing in common, too: loyalty to their respective party leaders.”

Two of the ministers, Karin Prien and Reem Alabali-Radovan, were not born in Germany, which is unusual in German politics. Additionally, Prien, who belongs to the progressive wing of the CDU and who will oversee education, is Jewish — another first in postwar Germany. Some of her ancestors fled the Nazis by moving to the Netherlands in the 1930s.

How does the swearing-in work?

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, 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.

Merz will then be driven a mile across the Tiergarten to the presidential residence, Schloss Bellevue, where President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will hand him his nomination document. Then he will head back to be sworn in by the president of the newly formed Parliament.

That procedure is repeated when Merz officially announces his Cabinet. All 17 ministers will travel to the president for their papers before returning to be sworn in at Parliament.

How likely is this government to last?

The chances are better this time around.

Scholz had to wrangle three very different parties during his tenure. And two of them, the Greens and the liberal Free Democratic Party, had opposing ideas on a number of issues, the key one being spending.

This coalition may be more likely to hold for another reason: This time, its members may feel that there is no other option.

With the AfD growing, an early election could bring it more seats, making governing even harder. Whatever their differences on policy, neither of the parties wants that.