Candidate Ilse Aigner: Inaugural visit with exceptions

dpa | One day after her nomination, Ilse Aigner (CSU), candidate for the office of Federal President, introduced herself in the Bundestag on Tuesday. The President of the Bavarian State Parliament visited the coalition factions of the CDU/CSU and SPD as well as the opposition Greens. She initially did not introduce herself to the AfD and the Left.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz and CSU leader Markus Söder welcomed the fact that, in addition to the SPD, the Greens also supported Aigner's candidacy. “This would allow us to rely on a very broad majority in the Federal Assembly,” said Merz before the meeting of the Union parliamentary group. “This is good at a time when the country needs someone to bring our country together.”

Aigner thanked the leaders of the CDU and CSU as well as the Union parliamentary group for their support. She was very moved by the nomination. “It was really a very special honor for me to receive this kind of support, far across party lines.”

Aigner was nominated on Monday as the Union's candidate for the election on January 30, 2027. The Federal Assembly will then decide on the successor to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. It includes the 630 members of the Bundestag and the same number of state voters. According to experts' estimates, the CDU, CSU and SPD have a majority of around 50 votes. In addition, the Green Party leadership recommended supporting Aigner; the party will have more than 190 voters. An election in the first round is therefore considered very likely. Aigner would be the first woman and the first CSU politician to head the state.

At her presentation, Aigner announced that as head of state he wanted to tackle the increasing division in society. She wants to be a candidate for a “strong center” and help overcome divides. The trained electrical engineer emphasized that she wanted to retain her much-appreciated down-to-earth attitude: “I don’t want to be above the citizens, but rather be part of them.” She also wants to speak clearly.

Merz also emphasized that Aigner's term in office would be primarily about cohesion. She will be “a Federal President with dignity and with heart”. He praised her political experience and her commitment to democracy. "Our society needs a face. Ilse Aigner gives it that face."

Aigner took on the AfD right from the start: she declined an invitation to join their parliamentary group. She justified this with the fact that the AfD MP Beatrix von Storch had described her nomination as a “statement of poverty”. The AfD reacted sharply. Rejecting the conversation is “exactly the beginning of what we fear: another president named by the other parties who will divide,” said Bernd Baumann, first parliamentary manager of the group.

Aigner received support from his own party. “The two parties have absolutely no interest in a serious discussion with the candidate,” said CSU regional group leader Alexander Hoffmann, referring to the AfD and the Left. “The script has already been written.” At the same time, a distinction must be made between the parties and their voters: “I believe that you can definitely reach the voters on the margins, in contrast to the party officials.” Aigner is the right candidate for this.

In his own words, Hoffmann would like to see an “Aigner effect” for the entire country. She speaks a language that reaches people, radiates confidence and can counteract the “desire to fail”.

Criticism of the nomination came from the left. Parliamentary group leader Sören Pellmann complained that “there is obviously a push back and forth between the SPD and the CDU/CSU”. His party would have liked a non-partisan candidate. “In times of disillusionment with politics, we would all be well advised to find an independent person outside the political spectrum, ideally a woman,” said Pellmann. “As a representative of East Germany, I would perhaps even like someone from the East.”

According to their own statements, the Left did not invite Aigner. But she would be welcome, even at a later date, said Pellmann: “If a candidate from our group wants to introduce herself, ideally perhaps if the 16 electors from the states were still there, then our door is of course open.” The Left wants to nominate its own candidate who should meet the criteria that the party would have wanted.