CDU and CSU weigh surprise candidate Ilse Aigner for Germany's presidency
Berlin. The first signs of dissent have emerged within the CDU over a potential bid by Ilse Aigner (CSU) to become Germany's next federal president.
"Markus Söder often makes very good suggestions. But in this case, there are several strong candidates under discussion," CDU membership representative Philipp Amthor told Stern magazine. "Things will work out well in the end." In principle, he supports the idea of a woman in Bellevue Palace. "I'm certainly not the first to think that would be a good idea."
Söder had thrown his weight behind a possible candidacy for Aigner, the president of Bavaria's state parliament, in an interview with Münchner Merkur. Other CSU politicians quickly rallied behind the former federal agriculture minister. The proposal from Munich, however, caught the CDU leadership off guard. Within Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party, several women are rumored to harbor their own presidential ambitions, including Family Minister Karin Prien. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, is also said to have held preliminary, discreet talks behind the scenes.
More openly, Steffen Bilger, the Union faction's first parliamentary manager, welcomed the idea. "I support any suitable proposal," Bilger told the news portal T-Online on Friday. "The CDU and CSU will develop a personnel recommendation over the summer."
Earlier, Sepp Müller, the Union faction's deputy leader, had already endorsed Söder's initiative. "I fully support Markus Söder's proposal," he said. "In the Bundestag and as president of the Bavarian state parliament, I have experienced Ilse Aigner as an integrative, citizen-focused personality. She embodies exactly the qualities this office demands. If she runs, she has my wholehearted support—clearly and without reservation."
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