Social Democrat Olaf Schulz is elected chancellor of Germany today. He is supposed to lead the first traffic lights coalition (SPD, Greens and FDP) at the federal level. In the German parliament, the three parties have a clear majority – 47 votes more than the “Chancellor’s majority” requires. If Schulze receives more than half of the votes of all elected representatives, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will appoint him chancellor that morning.
From a logistical point of view, the German capital Berlin has to commute back and forth between the Reichstag building and Bellevue Palace, the official residence of the Federal President. Soon after the chancellor’s election from 9 a.m., Schulze will receive a certificate of his appointment to Bellevue Palace. Then he returns to the Bundestag, where he will be sworn in. Thereafter, future Federal Ministers will also be appointed first at Bellevue Palace and then sworn in in the Bundestag.
Schulz would be the fourth chancellor of the Social Democratic Party in the Federal Republic of Germany, which was founded in 1949. His predecessors as social democratic heads of government were Willy Brandt (1969-1974), Helmut Schmidt (1974-1982) and Gerhard Schröder (1998-2005).
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