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I was discussing with my colleagues about the differences in the formation of the government in our countries, but, to my partial surprise, they weren't able to describe in detail the process that leads to the formation of a new government.
I know that Germany is a parliamentary republic, and that they vote to form the Bundestag directly and the Bundesrat indirectly (through the Länder elections).
But then what happens? how does the parliament expresses a government?
Step 1: Usually a coalition is formed since no party alone has sufficient votes in parliament (Bundestag). This requires lengthy negotiations and results in a coalition treaty, which regulates general (and many specific) policies as well as who gets nominated chancellor and how many and which ministries each party controls.
Step 2: The coalition proposes a chancellor (Bundeskanzler) to the president (Bundespräsident). The president nominates the chancellor to parliament.
Step 3: Parliament elects the chancellor. Subsequently they are appointed by the president (within 7 days) and sworn in.
Step 4: The chancellor proposes ministers to the president who appoints them and swears them in. After this step we have a new government.
Some references:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Germany#Head_of_government
The Chancellor of Germany is elected by the parliament (Bundestag) with absolute majority. This is done during the first session after each election. Additionally, the Bundestag can at any time do a motion of no-confidence and vote a different chancellor. The Bundesrat does not have any say in this.
Officially, the cabinet members are then chosen by the newly elected chancellor as he or she sees fit. But unofficially, the cabinet members are usually negotiated during the coalition agreement.
So what's the coalition agreement?
There wasn't a federal election since 1957 where a single party obtained 50% of the seats. So if every party would vote for their own chancellor candidate, there would never be a government. But why would any party vote for the chancellor proposed by the political opponent? Because they get something in return.
Two or more parties which together hold at least 50% of the seats in the Bundestag will form a Coalition. This coalition is usually manifested in a coalition agreement which includes:
After they came to an agreement, the parliament members of the coalition party will all vote for the chancellor they agreed on, who will then nominate the ministers they agreed on. The members of the coalition parties will also be (unofficially but strongly) obligated to support any of the policies which were agreed on in the coalition agreement.
