New German Cabinet to meet for first time Tuesday night, sources say

Germany's new administration under freshly-elected Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to convene for a first Cabinet meeting on Tuesday night, dpa learnt from government sources.

It had initially been unclear when the new government would convene, after Merz suffered a historic defeat when seeking to be elected chancellor in a first round of voting in parliament earlier on Tuesday.

An unprecedented failure in Germany's post-war history, the stumble caused a significant delay in proceedings, with lawmakers convening again hours later to cast their ballots for a second time.

This time Merz managed to secure the required absolute majority in the 630-seat lower house, winning nine more votes than needed.

He has since been sworn in by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and was due to give his oath of office in parliament, before his 17 ministers are set to be sworn in.