Presidential talks
February 19, 2012
Even with a pool of candidates made up of any German over the age of 40, it proved difficult for Germany's largest political parties to agree on a potential nominee for president.
Joachim Gauck, a civil rights activist and lawyer from the former East Germany was the man leaders of Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing center-right coalition and the Social Democratic and Green opposition parties could agree on to replace Christian Wulff, who resigned as German president on Friday.
Merkel met earlier Sunday with members of her Christian Democratic Union, its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union, and the free-market liberal FDP to put together a list of names before talks with the opposition.
FDP parliamentary group leader Rainer Brüderle on Sunday said his party supported Gauck to take over as president. By supporting Gauck, observers see the FDP as also coming out against other CDU-favored candidates, including Protestant theologian Wolfgang Huber and Klaus Töpfer, the former chief of the UN Environment Program.
Gauck had received support from the SPD and Greens on Saturday. The opposition parties had pushed for the 72-year-old's appointment in 2010 only to watch Wulff beat him out of the presidency.
Public wants Gauck
The politicians' decision mirrored the results of two polls published Sunday. German voters said they would like to see Gauck move into Bellevue Palace, the president's official residence. Surveys conducted by Emnid and Infratest dimap both found public support to be highest for Gauck.
The Emnid poll also found that 79 percent of those surveyed said they wanted a president who is not currently politically active.
Author: Sabine Kinkartz / sms
Editor: Spencer Kimball