Another political headache for Merkel
Former German foreign minister FrankWalter Steinmeier is set to be elected president in a vote on Sunday that could also represent a test of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political authority at the start of a tough election year. A member of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the 61-year-old Steinmeier has the backing of Merkel’s coalition government, meaning that his election by the special 1,260-member Federal Convention to the largely ceremonial post of president is assured.
But members of Merkel’s conservative political bloc could seize on the Steinmeier vote as a chance to protest the chancellor’s political direction, notably her handling of the refugee crisis that engulfed the nation some 18 months ago.
A bigger-than-expected vote for the other three candidates who have thrown their hats into the ring in the presidential ballot could be seen as a sign of frustration in the ranks of Christian Democrats (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU).
Regularly voted in opinion polls as the nation’s most popular politician, Steinmeier will take over from outgoing president Joachim Gauck following the ballot by the Federal Convention, which is made up of lawmakers and leading community members.
Steinmeier is facing three other candidates in the election for the post, including a former German TV judge, Alexander Hold, standing for small centreright Freie Waehler (Free Voters) party.
The two other candidates are poverty researcher Christoph Butterwegge, representing the hard-left Die Linke, and Albrecht Glaser for the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany.
“I would like as federal president to be something of a counterweight to the current tendency towards boundless simplification,” said Steinmeier, who has emerged as a leading voice against the rise of populism.
Merkel has also praised Steinmeier the “common sense” candidate.
“At a time when there’s unrest and instability around the world, it is in my view right and important that the conservatives send a signal of stability by supporting Steinmeier’s candidacy,” she said.
But Merkel and the CDU-CSU were forced to back Steinmeier as the nation’s new head of state after they failed to agree on a candidate. The SPD is the junior member of Merkel’s coalition.
Roundly defeated by Merkel in the 2009 election when he spearheaded the SPD’s bid to unseat her conservatives, Steinmeier has also acted as the chancellor’s foreign minister twice since she was elected 12 years ago to head up Europe’s biggest economy.
Political analysts see the CDU-CSU’s backing for Steinmeier as pointing to Merkel’s current coalition government continuing in office after the September election. However, Steinmeier’s presidential bid also paved the way for a shake-up in the SPD’s leadership with the party backing former European Parliament president Martin Schulz as its candidate to challenge Merkel at the election.
The consequent surge in support for the SPD has served to increase the pressure on Merkel as her party prepares for what she has described as Germany’s toughest election campaign ever.
But then, selecting a new president, whose powers include appointing new governments and judges, has proven to be particularly fraught for Merkel.
Her two previous handpicked candidates for the presidency resigned early from the post.
Merkel’s government had hoped to avoid Sunday’s vote as it gears up for the federal poll as well as the turmoil unleashed by Britain’s plan to exit the European Union and the new Trump White House.
The government had pressed the 76-yearold Gauck to stay on for another term. But he decided against remaining for another five years on the grounds of his age.