Söder says it's now the CSU's turn to name Germany's next president
CSU leader Markus Söder stepped up pressure for Ilse Aigner as head of state, telling ARD his party has never held the chancellorship or the presidency.
Archive image · Photo: Michael Lucan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de (cropped and resized)
Bavarian Premier and CSU leader Markus Söder on Saturday renewed his party's claim to Germany's presidency. "Actually, one can argue that it's now a bit our turn," Söder told public broadcaster ARD, noting that the CSU has supplied neither a chancellor nor a federal president in 75 years.
Söder is backing Bavarian state parliament speaker Ilse Aigner, 61. "The federal president does not have to be a notary," he said, arguing the post requires authority and that suitability, not horse-trading over posts, should decide. He said the conservative bloc and the SPD should decide jointly, ideally in November.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz greeted Aigner by name at the CSU convention in Munich earlier in the day, drawing a standing ovation, but did not address the nomination. Sources in his CDU say the party has not given up its claim to name its own candidate.