(de-news.net) – After the state elections, the succession to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) is heading toward an active discussion phase. More and more CDU and SPD leaders are advocating for a woman to be Germany’s next president, while emphasizing that the chosen candidate must also have widespread political credibility and the capacity to bring people together from different political backgrounds. The election results have made the balance of delegates to the Federal Convention clear, and Ilse Aigner (CSU) is one of the names being discussed.
CDU Secretary-General Franziska Hoppermann expects a decision on who will succeed President Steinmeier in the near future, with discussions now set to begin following the state elections in the fall. Hoppermann said the parties had agreed to address the succession once those elections were completed and indicated that the talks would begin shortly. While she said she would personally welcome the election of a woman to the country’s highest state office, she emphasized that gender should not be the primary criterion for the position. The Union, she noted, has several highly qualified women who could be considered, including Aigner, the current president of the Bavarian State Parliament, who is regarded as a highly promising candidate.
Mechthild Heil (CDU), chair of the Union parties’ parliamentary group’s women’s caucus, has likewise renewed her call for a woman to become Federal President. She argued that, after 77 years, the office should finally be held by a woman. Although the timing of a final decision on a candidate remained uncertain, Heil said the recent state elections had provided important clarity for the selection process. The results established how many delegates each state could send to the Federal Convention, the body that elects the Federal President, giving an indication of where potential majorities for a candidacy can be assembled.
Parties with preference for a female successor
Dirk Wiese, parliamentary manager of the SPD, has also called for the selection process to move ahead quickly. With the state elections now concluded, he said discussions should enter their final phase and maintained that a woman should be chosen as the next Federal President. In his view, the eventual candidate should demonstrate sound judgment, act with composure, address disputes at an early stage and possess credibility on the international stage. Wiese argued that there was no reason to assume such qualifications were limited to men, saying the conditions were now appropriate for the country to elect a woman to the office.
As coalition talks approach, the SPD women’s group has also intensified its call for a female successor to Steinmeier. Its chairwoman, Carmen Wegge, said the appointment of a woman to Germany’s highest state office was long overdue. She pointed to the many capable, committed and qualified women in Germany who could be considered for the position and argued that one of them should become the country’s next Federal President. The organization represents all female members of the SPD, giving the issue a formal place within the party’s women’s organization as discussions over the succession approach.
Despite losses in the state elections in Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt, the CDU/CSU and SPD retain a majority in the Federal Convention. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) had said that talks on Steinmeier’s succession would begin after the elections, setting the stage for the current discussions over potential candidates. Aigner, the President of the Bavarian State Parliament, is among the possible contenders and has been one of the names most frequently associated with the succession debate.
