Successor to Frank-Walter Steinmeier: According to the media, the CDU wants Ilse Aigner as Federal President

afp/dpa/kna/rtr | According to media reports, the CDU wants to nominate CSU politician Ilse Aigner for the office of Federal President. This was reported unanimously by Bild, Spiegel and Süddeutsche Zeitung on Friday. The German Press Agency found out from several high-ranking Union sources.

The 61-year-old would be the first woman to head the Federal Republic of Germany. Aigner is currently President of the Bavarian State Parliament. She was once Federal Minister of Agriculture in Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet. The new German head of state and successor to Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) will be elected by the Federal Assembly on January 30th next year. Aigner has already received approval from the ranks of the SPD and the Greens, which means her election in January should be considered certain.

The SPD is prepared to elect Ilse Aigner as Federal President in an official candidacy. “If the presidium then officially decides to propose Ilse Aigner in the Union on Monday, then I can only say for the SPD, we would welcome and support that,” said party leader Lars Klingbeil at a youth dialogue on financial policy in Berlin.

Aigner has “an incredibly integrative power” that Germany needs, especially in these times. “She is a very people-oriented politician who talks to people on an equal level, that is really important,” said Klingbeil.

It shouldn't be officially announced until Monday. The current Bavarian state parliament president would thus become Germany's first female head of state - after 12 men. And the first with a CSU party register. Roman Herzog from Lower Bavaria was with the CDU.

Another double first would be connected to her person: Aigner did not study - and she is single. Which means she would have to be Federal President and First Lady in one.

Due to high cross-party approval ratings, she should be assured of a solid majority in the Federal Assembly on January 30th. Most recently, leading Social Democrats and Green Party politicians also spoke out in favor of the Upper Bavarian. Under these circumstances, an opposing candidacy with a chance of winning seems impossible.

For a long time, Aigner didn't reveal whether she had any ambitions at Bellevue Palace. That was obviously a smart move. Not just because she couldn't easily be completely sure of the support within her own party. But also because being too bold on the part of the CSU regularly triggers defensive reflexes on the part of its larger sister party.

Aigner once said that she shares a “community of fate” with CSU leader and Prime Minister Markus Söder. Both entered the state parliament in 1994 and were colleagues on the state board of the Junge Union and in Horst Seehofer's cabinet. She lost the competition to succeed Seehofer in 2018 against her Franconian rival.

Söder would probably have to finally bury his dream of the chancellorship if his 61-year-old party colleague moved to Berlin. On the other hand, he would have a potential competitor for the government seat in Munich from the court. This aspect should not be underestimated, because the incumbent is no longer as unchallenged in his party as he used to be.

Söder had left no doubt about his support for Federal President Aigner for six months. “If she wants to, she has my full sympathy and support,” he said in an interview in April. He stepped up in the summer and at the end of October he used the CSU party conference for a real advertising offensive.

"The decision will be made somewhere else, but I would be happy if Ilse Aigner became the next Federal President. That would be a great thing," said Söder literally. "Me?" Just a slip of the tongue?

But who is the tall, dark-haired, childless Catholic? Aigner comes from Feldkirchen-Westerham. This is halfway between Munich and Rosenheim. After graduating from secondary school in 1981, she trained as a radio and television technician. She later trained as a systems electrician for helicopters.

She was the only woman out of 100 men at the vocational school. A good preparatory school for what awaited her later in politics. At the age of 27, Aigner wanted to become mayor of her home community. Men's ropes slowed her down in the nomination process. After a short time in the state parliament, Aigner stepped in for a failed CSU direct candidate in the 1998 federal election. And won the mandate straight away.

Seehofer's offer to become Agriculture Minister in Angela Merkel's cabinet in 2008 came as a surprise to her. She only agreed after consulting with her sisters on a mountain tour. In the “Grant & Gloria” podcast in mid-October, she gave a rare insight into her private life: “I go through life single.” But that doesn't mean she's lonely. “I live in a large family group, in a so-called three-generation house, where there is always something going on.” She tried to enter into a partnership several times, “with more or less success”.

The politician has been through serious illnesses. She was diagnosed with a tumor in her back when she was a teenager. Through an operation she avoided the threat of paraplegia. As Federal Minister of Agriculture, she overcame thyroid cancer with radiation therapy.

As President of the Bavarian Parliament, Aigner has gained respect far beyond the CSU. In her first election she achieved an overwhelming majority with 198 out of 205 votes. The technician of power is considered balancing and approachable.

Aigner has not only raised her profile as a defender of democracy and as a bridge builder in her public speeches. In the state parliament, she repeatedly pointed out the boundaries to riotous AfD members of parliament. Holding the store together, this ability would be even more in demand in the highest state office in Berlin.