Germany is on course to have its first female head of state after Chancellor Friedrich Merz put forward Ilse Aigner, the speaker of the Bavarian state parliament, as the conservative candidate for federal president.
Merz told senior members of his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of his choice at a dinner in Berlin on Sunday, November 8, and the party’s federal executive formally nominated her on Monday, according to Reuters and the expat news site IamExpat. Aigner belongs to the Christian Social Union (CSU), the CDU’s sister party in Bavaria.
How Germany chooses its president
The German president is not elected directly by voters. Instead, a body called the Federal Convention (Bundesversammlung) meets for the sole purpose of choosing the head of state. It is made up of the 630 members of the Bundestag and an equal number of delegates sent by Germany’s 16 state parliaments.
Al Jazeera and IamExpat report that the convention is scheduled to vote on January 30, 2027. The current president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the Social Democrats (SPD), took office in 2017 and is serving the second of the two five-year terms the constitution allows. IamExpat gives the end of his term as March 18, 2027.
The role is largely ceremonial. The president signs legislation into law and formally appoints ministers, and is expected to act as a voice above day-to-day party politics.
Cross-party backing
Aigner’s election is widely described as very likely because she has support beyond the conservative bloc:
- CDU and CSU: Merz said she would give Germany a president “with dignity and heart”. CSU leader Markus Söder had long pushed for her candidacy.
- SPD: The Social Democrats, who govern in coalition with the conservatives, back the nomination. IamExpat quotes SPD leader Lars Klingbeil calling her “an incredibly integrative force”.
- Greens: Reuters reports that the opposition party’s leadership has urged its lawmakers to support her.
Al Jazeera noted that the CDU had held back from endorsing Aigner while Merz considered other names, after the CSU first proposed her earlier this year.
Speaking after her nomination, Aigner said, as reported by Reuters, that Germany’s democracy was “under attack from within and without”.
Who is Ilse Aigner?
Aigner, 61, trained as a technician before entering politics and worked on electrical systems for helicopter maker Eurocopter. She began in local politics in Bavaria and was elected to the federal parliament in 1998.
She served as federal agriculture minister from 2008 under former chancellor Angela Merkel. In 2013 she returned to Bavaria as state economics minister and deputy premier, and she has been president of the Bavarian state parliament since 2018. According to IamExpat, she also volunteers as state chair of the Bavarian Red Cross water rescue service.
Quick facts
- Nominee: Ilse Aigner (CSU), 61
- Current post: Speaker of the Bavarian state parliament since 2018
- Vote: Federal Convention, January 30, 2027
- Outgoing president: Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD)
- Historic first: Germany has never had a female head of state; she would also be the first CSU politician in the role
What happens next
Other parties may still put forward their own candidates before the convention meets, although none had been confirmed in the reports reviewed. If Aigner wins a majority of convention votes, she would take office when Steinmeier’s term ends in March 2027.
For Germans living in the UAE, the change will not affect consular services or residency matters, as the presidency does not set day-to-day government policy.
Sources: Reuters (via Yahoo News), Al Jazeera, IamExpat
