Germany's new Bundestag convenes in Berlin as coalition talks proceed
Germany's Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, convened for a new legislative session on Tuesday.
Lawmakers gathered in Berlin, one month after parliamentary elections delivered a victory for Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU/CSU bloc - made up of the Christian Democrats and the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union.
The slimmed-down chamber has dropped from 733 to 630 seats after a parliamentary reform, and the members' political allegiances have also shifted, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) now holding almost a quarter of the seats.
The CDU's Julia Klöckner was elected as the Bundestag president, the second-highest office of state in Germany behind the federal presidency.
As president, Klöckner will open and close sittings, call items of business and grant lawmakers permission to speak.
Klöckner, from the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, is the fourth woman to hold the position, which outranks the chancellor in terms of formal protocol.
In a speech following her election, Klöckner warned that "liberal democracy cannot be taken for granted" and called for more respect in parliamentary debates.
"The way we deal with each other here and exchange arguments has an influence on social debates," she said.
Lawmakers were set to elect Klöckner's deputies later on Tuesday, with senior AfD politician Bernd Baumann complaining that his party's candidate was unlike to garner enough votes to secure the position.
"We could put up Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi, they wouldn't get elected," said Baumann.
All German mainstream parties have ruled out working with the far-right party, a strategy referred to as a political "firewall."
Coalition talks continue
The opening of the new Bundestag comes as coalition talks between the CDU/CSU and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) continue.
Together, the country's traditional political rivals hold a slim majority of seats in the new Bundestag, despite having garnered under 45% of the vote in February's election.
Merz, the presumptive next chancellor, has stated that he wants an administration to be in place by the Easter holidays in April, but negotiations are ongoing over a number of thorny issues, such as migration policy.
The next administration is likely to face steadfast opposition in the Bundestag from the AfD, which finished in second place with a record 20.8% of the nationwide vote.
The success of the AfD and the resurgence of The Left, both parties that the CDU/CSU bloc has promised not to work with, leaves the two parties with a so-called blocking minority in the chamber, giving them the power to thwart constitutional amendments.
That prompted Merz and his prospective coalition partners to rush a historic package through the outgoing Bundestag last week, relying on support from the Greens to amend constitutional rules on government borrowing for defence and create an extraordinary €500 billion ($541 billion) fund for infrastructure and climate protection.
Scholz to be dismissed
The new Bundestag also marks a significant step for outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is set to be formally dismissed by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier later on Tuesday.
Under Article 69 of the Basic Law, Germany's constitution, the outgoing administration is formally dismissed after the new chamber is constituted.
Steinmeier is set to hand over certificates of dismissal to the chancellor and his 14 ministers at around 5:30 pm (1630 GMT).
However, Scholz is set to remain in office in a caretaker capacity until the next government is formed.
The president's office said Steinmeier has already requested for Scholz's administration to continue its work until it can be replaced.
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