BERLIN, Nov 6 (Reuters) – Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU) have agreed to back Ilse Aigner from the Bavarian Christian Social Union for the office of German president, German media said on Friday, after weeks of tension between the two sister parties.
Aigner, currently speaker of the Bavarian state parliament, would become Germany’s first female head of state if she is elected by the Federal Convention, made up of the lower house of parliament, or Bundestag, and representatives from the 16 federal states.
Germany’s president holds a largely ceremonial position, signing legislation into law and formally appointing ministers, but can play a significant role beyond daily politics as a moral voice.
A CDU spokesperson declined to comment ahead of an official announcement expected following meetings on Monday to propose a successor to President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose term ends next year.
“I can neither confirm nor deny that and would refer you to the committee meetings on Monday,” the spokesperson told Reuters.
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.
On Friday, the daily Bild and Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspapers and the weekly Der Spiegel all reported that the CDU had agreed to support her nomination.
Merz said earlier this week he wanted to see a woman elected as president and Aigner has already received strong verbal backing from members of the centre-left Social Democrats and some members of the environmental Greens.
Aigner, 61, trained as an electrical engineering technician and worked in electrical-systems development for helicopter maker Eurocopter. She 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 state parliament in 2018.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Xevi Fontdegloria)
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