Head of state: Districts: SPD leadership supports Aigner's candidacy

Berlin. The SPD leadership supports the Union's proposed candidacy of the Bavarian state parliament president Ilse Aigner (CSU) for the office of federal president. “The SPD presidium supports the nomination of Ilse Aigner,” said party circles at a meeting of the top committee in Berlin. She is an experienced, down-to-earth politician and has the important ability to bring people together across party and social boundaries.

It is good that there is now clarity regarding the nomination, it was said from SPD circles. After weeks of speculation, the CDU chairman and Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on Sunday evening at a CDU presidium dinner that he would propose Aigner. With the CSU already campaigning for them, support from all coalition parties is in sight.

Leading SPD politicians had long indicated their sympathy for Aigner's candidacy. Party leader Lars Klingbeil said on Friday that if the Union leadership officially supported Aigner, they would welcome and support it. Aigner has “an incredibly integrative power” that Germany needs, especially in these times. “She’s a very people-oriented politician who talks to people on an equal level, that’s really important.”

It is therefore very likely that the 61-year-old will be elected to the head of state. Aigner would not only be the first woman, but also the first CSU politician to take on the highest state office.