Söder: "Friedrich Merz remains chancellor" – CSU leader backs Aigner
CSU leader Söder threw his weight behind Merz on ARD's "Caren Miosga". His personal goal lies elsewhere: Bavarian parliament speaker Ilse Aigner should become Germany's first female president.
Archive image · Photo: Olaf Kosinsky / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de (cropped and resized)
CSU leader Markus Söder has backed Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) amid the Union's crisis. Asked whether he would be ready to succeed Merz as chancellor, the Bavarian premier said on ARD's "Caren Miosga" on Sunday evening: "Friedrich Merz remains Federal Chancellor." According to dpa, Söder said he values and respects Merz and finds his weak poll ratings very unfair. The remarks came on the first day of the CDU leadership retreat in Berlin.
"The only personnel question that interests me personally is not the chancellorship," Söder went on. He wants "Ilse Aigner to become Federal President, if at all possible". The CSU politician is president of the Bavarian state parliament and, according to ZDF, has not yet commented publicly on a candidacy. She would be the first woman head of state. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier leaves office in March after two terms; the Federal Convention elects his successor on 30 January 2027. The CSU has never held the chancellery or the presidency.