German Chancellor: "The next president will be a woman"... Elected in January next year

All 12 past presidents were men... First female head of state consensus

(Berlin = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Gye-yeon = German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the new president elected in January next year should be a woman. If the Christian Democratic Party (CDU), of which she is the leader, nominates a female candidate and is elected, she will become the first post-war female president, including the time in the former West Germany.

According to ARD broadcasting, Chancellor Merz said at a CDU internal meeting on the 2nd (local time) regarding the recommendation of a presidential candidate, "I have a firm position that it should be a woman," and "I will recommend a political centrist candidate to the party."

There has been a consensus in German politics that it is time for a female president, but this is the first time that Chancellor Merz, who also heads the ruling CDU, has expressed such a position.

Former Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Social Democratic Party, SPD), current President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD), whose term ends in March next year, and former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) have already publicly stated that they support a woman as the next president.

The German president is a symbolic head of state with little real power and serves to represent Germany in the international community and unite the people.

There were four women, including the incumbent Julia Klöckner, as the Speaker of the Federal Assembly, the second in ceremonial rank after the President. Merkel was the first federal chancellor and served for 16 years, but all 12 past presidents were men.

Steinmeier, who was elected president in 2017 after serving as foreign minister in the Merkel government, will retire in March next year after completing two five-year terms. A successor will be selected on January 30th next year at a temporary federal conference organized by the Federal Assembly and representatives of 16 states.

The CDU, which formed the coalition government, and its sister parties, the Christian Social Party (CSU) and SPD, occupy the majority of the federal council's electoral corps, so it is highly likely that the candidate agreed upon within the coalition government will be elected.

Female candidates within the CDU include Chairman Klöckner, Minister of Education, Family, Gender, Senior Citizens and Youth Karin Prine, and former Minister of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. CSU leader Markus Söder said he supports Ilse Aigner, chairman of the Bavarian state parliament, where he is the state premier. However, ARD broadcaster reported that Prime Minister Merz's position is that the CDU, which has a much larger number of seats in parliament, has the authority to make recommendations.

Some also mention former Chancellor Merkel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was defense minister during the Merkel government.

However, former Chancellor Merkel has already expressed her opinion that she has no intention of becoming president. There is no case in which a person served as prime minister, the person with the most power, and then as president. Von der Leyen has nearly three years remaining in her term as executive chairman, so it is realistically impossible. Former Chancellor Merkel plans to vote in the presidential election as a representative of the state of Schleswig-Holstein.