Merz says will name Aigner as Germany’s first woman president

BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Sunday he intended to appoint Bavarian politician Ilse Aigner as the country’s next president, in 2027, making her the first woman in the post.

He made his announcement at a dinner for leaders of his center-right CDU party, confirming information leaked last week by party sources.

Aigner, 61, belongs to the CSU, the Bavarian sister party of the CDU.

Aigner’s nomination by Merz virtually guarantees her election on January 30, as those voting are almost all drawn from Germany’s two parliamentary chambers.

Currently speaker of the southern state’s regional assembly, she would replace outgoing President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, in the largely ceremonial post.