Overview
- German media and senior party sources reported on Friday that Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU has agreed to back CSU politician Ilse Aigner, making her the likely joint CDU/CSU nominee pending formal confirmation.
- The nomination will be formalised at an upcoming CDU/CSU meeting and, if confirmed, Aigner is expected to be elected by the Federal Convention on January 30, 2027 to succeed Frank‑Walter Steinmeier.
- Aigner, 61, is speaker of Bavaria’s state parliament, served as a federal minister under Angela Merkel, trained as an electrical engineer, and is known for a personable Bavarian image and a consensual approach to handling AfD lawmakers.
- She has received verbal support from members of the centre‑left SPD and some Greens, and Merz has publicly said he wanted to see a woman elected to the presidency.
- The move ends a recent CDU‑CSU dispute over the candidate and could give the presidency a unifying moral voice above party politics; the Federal Convention that will vote consists of Bundestag members and representatives from the 16 states, and the president’s role is mainly ceremonial but symbolically important in a polarized political climate.