Germany: CDU names Ilse Aigner as candidate for president

Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU) on Monday confirmed that they would be putting forward Ilse Aigner as a candidate to be Germany's next head of state. 

Aigner's own CSU, the CDU's Bavarian sister party, already supports her candidacy — and the federal coalition partners the Social Democrats have also made clear they would endorse her nomination if the conservatives agree on it. 

This means the 61-year-old has a good chance of taking up the largely ceremonial role when the special committee that elects a German president convenes in late January. 

While Angela Merkel famously served as the country's most powerful politician for more than a decade, Germany has never had a female head of state.

Could Ilse Aigner become Germany's first female head of state?

How did Aigner come to be nominated? 

Aigner's chances at the nomination had been gathering momentum for some time now, with various government politicians including Chancellor Merz saying they'd favor a female candidate. 

The CSU had in particular lobbied for the 13th post-war German president to be the first one from the Bavarian party and the first woman. 

Reports that Merz would suggest Aigner as a candidate to the steering committee first emerged on Friday, and were then confirmed by participants when the party leadership convened for two days of talks on Sunday. 

Current President Frank-Walter Steinmeier's second five-year term comes to an end next March. The special "Bundesversammlung" committee that elects a German president therefore convenes in late January to choose his successor. 

The committee — comprising 1,260 people in all — is made up of federal and state lawmakers, and sometimes municipal officials and others from public life.

SPD leader and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil has voiced support for her nomination.

The CDU/CSU and SPD command a majority in the committee, and it's also possible that Green party politicians might support Aigner. This means her chances of selection seem strong, at least barring unexpected developments.

Who is Ilse Aigner? 

Aigner, 61, is currently the speaker of the state parliament in Bavaria. 

The youngest of four sisters and the daughter of an electrician, she worked in the family business in her early adult life before going into politics. She's a Roman Catholic, single and has no children.

Aigner began her parliamentary career in the Bavarian legislature in 1994, then moved to the Bundestag federal parliament in 1998, before returning to the Bavarian chamber in 2013. 

She spent five years as federal agriculture minister under then-Chancellor Angela Merkel. 

She's currently the speaker or president of the state legislature in Bavaria, a role she has held since 2018.