Bellevue Palace | Support for Ilse Aigner is growing

Will Ilse Aigner be the CDU and CSU candidate to succeed Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier? Photo: dpa/Pia Bayer Berlin. Support for Ilse Aigner's candidacy as Federal President is growing. After several influential CDU politicians from the states, Baden-Württemberg's CDU state leader Manuel Hagel is now also speaking out in favor of the Bavarian state parliament president. There is also encouragement from Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD), who describes the CSU politician as "the perfect candidate".

"Ilse Aigner has my full support as a joint candidate for the office of Federal President," said Hagel to the German Press Agency in Stuttgart. Their reputation extends far beyond their own ranks. She combines clarity with warmth and meets people at eye level. Given the increasingly harsh political climate, Germany needs “a voice that brings people together.”

The Federal Assembly will meet in Berlin on January 30, 2027 to determine the successor to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The CSU supports Aigner's candidacy. Several influential CDU politicians have now spoken out in favor of it, including all three East German CDU prime ministers.

CSU General Secretary Martin Huber sees this as a high level of acceptance for Aigner. You have a good chance of a strong result in the first round of voting, he told the “Rheinische Post”. This would also be a strong signal for the democratic center.

On Monday, Chancellor and CDU leader Friedrich Merz called for a woman to head the state, but did not yet mention a name. A decision is expected at the beginning of next week when the CDU presidium and board deal with the issue.

Brandenburg's Prime Minister Woidke is also promoting Aigner. The SPD politician told Politico that she has everything that makes a good Federal President. She knows German politics inside out, is approachable, likes people and can listen. If the CSU politician were proposed, he would be very happy.

Union parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei believes that a cross-party accepted proposal from the CDU and CSU is likely. Aigner has proven over decades in Bavarian and German politics that she is an excellent person, said the CDU politician "Bild". However, he did not want to commit to a specific name.

He expects a joint proposal from the party leaders in a few days. This will probably also find broad approval beyond the Union.

At the same time, Frei emphasized that, in addition to Aigner, there were “of course other, very excellent women” who were suitable for the office. Last week he had already named Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, Education Minister Karin Prien and former CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as possible candidates. dpa/nd

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