Chancellor Merz to nominate Aigner as Germany’s first woman president

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will nominate Bavarian politician Ilse Aigner for Germany’s next president, which would make her the country’s first female head of state.

Merz made the announcement at a dinner for leaders of his centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party on Sunday.

Aigner, speaker of the Bavarian state parliament, belongs to the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of the CDU.

If her nomination is confirmed at a CDU and CSU meeting on Monday, she would almost certainly be formally elected.

According to German political practice, coalition parties must agree on a common candidate. The governing coalition is made up of the CDU, the CSU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

The SPD has frequently voiced its support for Aigner as president.

The German president is elected by the Federal Convention, convened solely to choose the president. It will decide on incumbent Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s successor on January 30.

Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, took office in 2017, and will reach the limit of two five-year terms in March 2027.

Germany’s president holds a largely ceremonial position, signing legislation into law and formally appointing ministers.

But the president can play the role of a neutral arbiter, above party politics, and acts as a symbol of national unity.

The CSU put forward Aigner’s name earlier this year, but the CDU held back from endorsing her while Merz considered alternatives, straining relations between the parties.

Aigner, 61, began her political career in local politics before being elected to federal parliament in 1998.

She served as agriculture minister under former Chancellor Angela Merkel before returning to her home state of Bavaria, where she became speaker of the state parliament in 2018.