The day the new German leader took office will be remembered forever for a very public failure.
Friedrich Merz’s first shock defeat – his bid to become prime minister caused a time of chaotic and uncertainty.
Instead, the man who worked to project strength and purpose was instead engrossed in political plots and division.
Merz may have won in his second attempt, but today’s troubling path to power raises serious questions about future government.
If he fails to collect votes among his co-workers – at such a critical moment – how does he fare when he tries to push the controversial law?
It comes as Germany faces a prolonged recession, strange debate about immigration, earthquake decisions on potential defence spending, and burgeoning far-right political forces.
But Meltz’s allies claim they can quickly recover from the situation and reject the idea that Meltz is irreparably damaged.
“We’re moving forward right now,” says Gunther Krichbaum, a veteran of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the new European minister for Germany.
“So I think we have a very, very, very good and stable government,” he told the BBC.
“This is necessary not only in Germany but also in Europe.”
Berlin’s allies were panicking to see an effective regime after the altercation that characterized the last collapsed coalition government.
However, Merz heads out on a planned trip to Warsaw and Paris on Wednesday in the shadow of a turbulent Tuesday.
There is considerable speculation about which lawmakers did not support Meltz in the first round in the secret vote.
The disgruntled people handed over for government work is one theory.
Have members of the Social Democrats (SPD) on the centre left decided they had to protest the political compromises that were hit by Mertz’s central right party?
Or did Lars Klingbale, the outspoken Meltz and the ambitious SPD vice-president, struggle to bring together his ranks?
Both figures were immediately eager to suggest that others were primarily responsible.
Which lawmakers do what they are, they seem willing to risk sweating Meltz and his Acolite.
Alternate Far Germany (AFD), suing Germany’s domestic intelligence reporting agency to classify the party as extremists, had ringside seats throughout the show.
Following the February election, the AFD is a major opposition party, struck by events as evidence of fundamental weaknesses within the coalition, consisting of the central CDU/CSU party and the central left SPD.
“It’s very clear that this government will be… very, very unstable,” says Beatrix von Stouch, assistant group leader at AFD.
She also reflected the claim that the so-called “firewall” of non-cooperation with her party is all further evidence.
“This shows that if we want to make a difference in politics in Germany, this firewall must fall,” von Stouch told the BBC.
Also, what we see from the gallery of visitors at Reichstag was Meltz’s old political rival from within Angela Merkel, the former prime minister within the CDU.
He once lost to her in a power struggle, but later returned to politics – trying to make his long-standing dream of working as a top.
This would not have been the way Meltz imagined entering the office.
But even more importantly, the sight leaves his claim that it is ready to provide a solid government that is greatly damaged on the first day.
