Germany's first unmarried female president announced... Aigner is likely to be an engineer.

For the first time in German history, the possibility of a single female politician without a college degree becoming president has increased. The German president is a symbolic head of state with little real power, but represents the country, apologizes to foreign countries for past events, and plays the role of unifying the people and society at home.

According to the weekly magazine Zeit on the 7th (local time), the ruling Christian Democratic Party (CDU), headed by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, agreed to nominate Bavarian State Council Chairman Ilse Aigner (61), a member of the sister party Christian Social Party (CSU), as the next presidential candidate.

Lars Klingweil, co-chairman of the coalition government's partner party, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and some members of the opposition Green Party also expressed support for Chairman Aigner. Brandenburg Chancellor Dietmar Wojtke, a member of the SPD, praised him as “a perfect candidate who has a thorough understanding of German politics.” The CDU plans to officially announce Aigner as its presidential candidate on the 9th.

The successor to President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is scheduled to leave office in March next year, will be elected on January 30th next year at a temporary federal conference formed by 630 members of the Federal Assembly and 630 representatives from 16 states. Among the 1,260 electoral votes, it is expected that the CDU/CSU alliance and the SPD alone will constitute a majority, which is the criteria for election. If votes in favor of opposition parties such as the Green Party are added, it is likely that Aigner will be elected president.

Aigner, who is from Feldkirchenwesterham, Bavaria, served as a member of the Federal Assembly from 1998 to 2013 and served as Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection under Angela Merkel's government from 2008 to 2013. He returned to his hometown in 2013 and has served as chairman of the Bavarian state legislature since 2018.

If Aigner is elected according to the CDU-CSU joint plan, she will become the first female and unmarried president in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, including the former West Germany. Starting with West Germany's first president, Theodor Heuss, all 12 presidents to date have been married men.

Aigner is also expected to set a record as the first engineer-turned-president without a college degree. Raised by an electrician father, he attended gymnasium (middle and high school), then transferred to Realschule, a vocational school, and completed the 10th grade (equivalent to the first year of high school in Korea) and received a secondary education diploma. Afterwards, he received vocational training as a radio and television technician at a company run by his parents and obtained a certificate at a technical school.

Aigner, who until recently said he was single, is considered an easy-going and friendly politician, although he is not eloquent. Local media highly praise her for building a political position as a single female engineer without a college degree in Bavaria, the most conservative state in Germany. In an interview in 2017, he pointed out the prejudice within the conservative CSU party, saying, "You can get divorced, get married four times, and be gay. But you can't live alone because it means there's something wrong with you."

However, there is also an analysis that Aigner's recommendation was not due to his experience or qualifications, but rather the result of the alignment of interests between Chancellor Friedrich Merz and CSU leader Markus Söder, the two major axes of the conservative camp and political rivals.

When Söder, who also serves as Bavaria's premier, pushed Aigner as a presidential candidate early this year, some interpreted that he was trying to show off his political influence and drive out his local rival. Chancellor Merz was pushed to recommend Aigner as public opinion in support of Aigner grew in both the CDU, which he represents, and his coalition partner SPD, but it is evaluated that he achieved the benefit of virtually eliminating Söder from the race for the next Federal Prime Minister. The logic is that in Germany, a federal system with 16 states, it is virtually impossible for a member of the CSU, a regional party in Bavaria, to occupy both the positions of president and prime minister.

Chancellor Merz has expressed his desire to run for a second term despite his lowest approval rating ever. Bavarian public broadcaster br commented, “Söder has strengthened his position within the party, his relationship with the CDU, and his position within the coalition structure,” adding, “However, in return, his chances of becoming federal chancellor someday have decreased significantly.”