Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) agreed on Nov. 7 to recommend the 61-year-old Bavarian state parliament president for the role.
CDU Plans to Formalize Aigner as Presidential Candidate
The CDU plans to officially formalize Aigner as its presidential candidate on Nov. 9. Frank-Walter Steinmeier is set to step down as president in March, with his successor scheduled to be elected on Jan. 30 by a temporary federal assembly comprising 630 members of parliament and 630 state representatives. Out of 1,260 electors, the CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) alone are expected to secure a majority.
Additional votes from the Green party make Aigner’s election likely. Lars Klingbeil, the co-leader of the SPD, and some members of the Green party have also expressed support for Aigner, while Brandenburg state Premier Dietmar Woidke of the SPD praised her as the perfect candidate who knows German politics inside out
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Aigner Served as Federal Parliament Member and Minister
Born in Feldkirchen-Westerham, Aigner served as a federal parliament member from 1998 to 2013 and as the minister of food, agriculture and consumer protection in Angela Merkel’s government between 2008 and 2013. She returned to her home region in 2013 and has led the Bavarian state parliament since 2018. If elected, she will break a streak of 12 married male presidents serving since the time of West Germany’s first president, Theodor Heuss.
Aigner is also set to become the first non-university educated engineer to hold the office. After attending a Realschule and completing secondary education qualifications, she completed vocational training as a radio and television technician at her parents’ company and earned a certificate from a technical school.
In a 2017 interview, she criticized conservative biases within the CSU, stating, You can get divorced, you can marry four times, you can be a homosexual.
But living alone means there is something wrong with you, so you can’t do that.
She is regarded as approachable and high in social affinity despite not being a fluent orator.
What Lies Ahead
While the CDU, CSU, and SPD forces expect to clear the threshold for victory, questions remain regarding the final composition of support and whether additional opposition parties will back her candidacy fully when the federal assembly votes in January.
