The election in Germany is over. So, what's next? Many are not sure who will be the next Chancellor, the process involved in electing the new Chancellor, and when would he/she take charge? 

The party that gains more than 50 per cent of the vote, would have enough representatives to take control of the German parliament -  Bundestag.  

The candidate for chancellor needs to win an absolute majority of the votes from within the party (50% +1). If the candidate fails to achieve this tally, the members of the Bundestag can pick another candidate and put them forward for another vote within a fortnight. Again, an absolute majority is required.

Unfortunately, the voters never gave an absolute majority to any one party ever since the foundation of the Federal Republic in 1949, and hence they have long since gotten used to coalition governments.

In such a situation, traditionally, the candidate elected by members of the leading coalition partner will become the chancellor (In the current scenario, the leading political party is CDU/CSU alliance with Friedrich Merz as their leader), and the elected candidate of the junior coalition partner is often tapped to become the foreign minister. The chancellor presents the names of the ministers and their portfolios to the president, who appoints the members of government.

The negotiations for coalition among parties usually take weeks. Every issue, including the economy, immigration, external affairs and the environment, will be discussed in length among experts in each coalition party with their counterparts in the other parties to arrive at a common ground. If those talks are promising, the parties hash out a "coalition contract"  - a kind of statement of intent that sets out the policy direction the would-be government will get drafted, which may run into several pages. (For example, the last coalition contract, drawn up in 2021 for the outgoing government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, was more than 170 pages.)

The candidate for chancellor needs to win an absolute majority of the votes (50% +1). If the candidate fails to achieve this tally, the members of the Bundestag can pick another candidate and put them forward for another vote within a fortnight. Again, an absolute majority is required.

If no candidate manages to win an absolute majority in the second round of voting too, a final ballot is held immediately. Whoever receives the most votes in that round is elected. Then the president must appoint him or her within seven days. If the elected person only achieves a simple majority in the third round, the president may either appoint him or her within seven days or dissolve the Bundestag, triggering a fresh election, which must take place within 60 days.

Another element of the coalition talks is deciding the portfolio of each member of the likely cabinet and what policy areas those ministries will cover. As there is no stipulated time line for all this to happen, the previous government and its chancellor would remain in office in a caretaker capacity until then.