Succeeding Steinmeier: Support for Aigner grows as Merz keeps his options open
CSU leader Söder and SPD parliamentary leader Miersch are backing Ilse Aigner for the presidential election on Jan. 30. Chancellor Merz has not yet committed.
Archive image · Photo: Michael Lucan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de (cropped and resized)
In the race to succeed Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, support is growing for CSU politician Ilse Aigner. According to the German Press Agency, she is backed by CSU leader Markus Söder and SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch. Steinmeier cannot run again after two terms; the election is scheduled for Jan. 30.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has not yet settled on a name but insists that the CDU has the right to propose a candidate. Aigner also has backing from within the CDU: Bundestag member Bastian Ernst spoke out in her favor and rejected the idea that the head of state must be a lawyer.
Writing in the magazine Cicero, columnist Hugo Müller-Vogg says the office falls to the CDU/CSU under an agreement with the SPD. The CSU is promoting Aigner's good chances, he writes, while Merz appears "uninvolved, almost helpless".