“Excellent job”
CDU Prime Minister Günther is campaigning for the re-election of Federal President Steinmeier
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (left) and Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) in July in the Baltic Sea town of Timmendorfer Strand
© Axel Heimken / DPA
Should Frank-Walter Steinmeier remain Federal President? So far the Union has kept a low profile on this issue. Schleswig-Holstein’s CDU Prime Minister Daniel Günther has now clearly sided with Steinmeier.
Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther has spoken out in favor of Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s second term as Federal President. “From my point of view, Frank-Walter Steinmeier did an excellent job in his first term of office. I would welcome his re-election at the Federal Assembly in February,” said the CDU politician to “Welt”.
Although he “basically” shares the view that the country needs more women in leadership positions, Günther said with a view to demands from the Union for a candidate for the presidency. “Nevertheless, I remain committed to the fact that Frank-Walter Steinmeier is and should remain a good Federal President.”
Union keeps all options open in the Steinmeier case
In the past few weeks, there have been a few voices from the Union ranks to send their own candidate into the race. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) raved about a woman “with charisma” at the head of the state in the “Welt am Sonntag”. It would have to be a woman “who is accepted across all parties”, added CDU board member Serap Güler in “Spiegel”. They both owed a name.
Shortly before Christmas, the designated CDU chairman Friedrich Merz was cautious about the Steinmeier case: “We are the strongest parliamentary group in the Federal Assembly. That is one thing. We have a highly respected Federal President. That is the other.” With this in mind, the CDU and CSU would make a joint decision.
CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt also left open on Wednesday in an interview with the DPA news agency whether the Union should move to the Federal Assembly on February 13 with its own applicant. “Ultimately, the Union must always be able to present a candidate for the highest office in the German state.” It has not yet been decided whether this will also be the case at the Federal Assembly in 2022.
These women and men rule Germany
17 images
There are arguments for continuing to support Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said Dobrindt. He elected Steinmeier at the recent Federal Assembly. But there are also arguments for voting as a Union with its own candidate. “The Union must always be able to provide personnel alternatives to the politicians from the camp of the traffic light.”
There is no election campaign for the office of Federal President, but rounds of introductions to the parties involved. That is why a decision on a candidacy can be made shortly before the Federal Assembly without any problems.
Greens decide in the new year
So far, in addition to Steinmeier’s SPD, the FDP has also spoken out in favor of re-election of the president in February. The Greens have not yet committed themselves. “Frank-Walter Steinmeier is a good president. But we have agreed not to discuss this question with the coalition partners until the new year,” said the applicant for the Green party chairmanship, Omid Nouripour, to the Funke newspapers.
Nouripour also advocated that the highest office of the state should “be filled by a woman as soon as possible”. However, he was against “burning a candidate”. This has already happened several times, since in the past “women were always set up by the parties that did not have a majority”.