The sweat was dripping off Friedrich Merz after the frontrunner to become Germany’s next chancellor saw his bid to outflank an ascendant far right spectacularly backfire in the Bundestag.

Merz, leader of the Christian Democrats, had sought to restrict immigration rules with the support of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The bill fell short of 12 votes on Friday. Twelve MPs from Merz’s parliamentary group were absent.

Despite his collaboration with far-right AfD party, Merz fails to gain majority in parliament for his anti-immigration legislation just weeks before parliamentary election - Anadolu Ajansı

The bill’s defeat — after Merz secured the passage of a similar motion on Wednesday — suggests that some of his own parliamentary group voted against the bill. All of which puts him in an uncomfortable position little more than three weeks from an election that has looked like his to lose.

German Parliament on Friday (local time) rejected the immigration bill pushed by opposition’s Freidrich Merz to tighten rules in the existing laws, DW reported. The bill, backed by the Germany’s far-right parties,

The Bundestag rejected the CDU/CSU bill on limiting immigration. The media noted that this was a painful defeat for Friedrich Merz, who aimed to gain the support of the conservative electorate before the elections with this bill.