The country’s likely next chancellor wanted to focus on the economy—before suddenly betting everything on culture war.

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.

BERLIN — Germany’s parliament is expected to vote Friday on an opposition bill calling for tougher rules on migration that could become the first legislation to pass thanks to a far-right party — adding to a controversy about the attitude of the front-runner in Germany’s upcoming election toward the far right.

The German parliament rejected an opposition draft law on tightening immigration policy on Friday, two days after the opposition conservatives were accused of breaching an agreement against cooperating with the far right for the first time.

Germany’s conservative bloc requested a surprise recess in the lower house of parliament on Friday in a sign of the tension over plans to pass a hard-line immigration bill with backing of the far right.

Germany's conservative election frontrunner Friedrich Merz defiantly vowed Friday to pass a bill to restrict immigration with the support of the far-right AfD, repeating a tactic that has sparked an

Intensive high-level talks were under way in the German capital on Friday, hours ahead of a highly controversial planned vote on a package of migration reforms pushed by the centre-right opposition CDU/CSU bloc.