Chancellor Angela Merkel’s attempt to choose a new German president by consensus has run into trouble after her Social Democrat coalition partners proposed foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier for the job.
By putting forward a top party member to succeed 76-year-old former pastor Joachim Gauck, the SPD is pushing Ms Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc to nominate a leader from its own ranks — and engage in a contested election.
The succession hunt comes as next year’s parliamentary elections looms large on the horizon. Although the presidency is largely honorary, Ms Merkel and SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel both think that the party securing the job could benefit in the Bundestag poll, even if it is only from the kudos of winning.
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