President Steinmeier, the anchor of German stability

Frank-Walter Steinmeier did not lose popularity. On the contrary. After five years at the head of the Federal Republic of Germany, this 66-year-old politician remains highly appreciated by the population. According to a survey carried out in early February for ARD-DeutschlandTrend, 68% of Germans say they are satisfied or even very satisfied with his work as head of state. These trends have boded well. Sunday February 13, after putting his mandate back into play, Frank-Walter Steinmeier was re-elected.

A president with limited functions

“Steinmeier is competent and friendly. I would gladly have voted for him if it had been possible”, recognizes this Berliner met in the center of the capital. Unlike this function in the French system, the president has limited prerogatives across the Rhine, essentially representative, and is not elected by universal suffrage but by a federal assembly specially constituted for the occasion. The 1,472 members of the latter bring together federal and regional deputies as well as a wide variety of personalities from civil society such as virologists, caregivers, and even an astronaut.

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On Sunday, if he faced three other candidates from the far right and the far left, Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s re-election was unquestionable and reflected the broad consensus surrounding his candidacy. This former member of the Social Democratic Party, former head of the chancellery under Gerhard Schröder and foreign minister under Angela Merkel, was unsurprisingly supported by his comrades in the SPD but also by environmentalists, the Liberals and even the Christian Democrats (CDU-CSU), now in opposition.

“As a passionate president, he strengthened our democracy and cohesion in our country”recently recognized the curator Armin Laschet. “In these difficult times, our country needs a credible voice that brings people together and does not exclude them”he summarized.

He sought dialogue

Since taking office in 2017, Frank-Walter Steinmeier has indeed systematically called on Germans to unite, even before the pandemic divided families. Upon his arrival at Bellevue Palace, he had to react to the rise of the far right, the entry of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as the country’s third political force in the Bundestag, and three attacks extremists, committed against a representative of the State in Cassel, against a synagogue in Halle and against citizens of foreign origin in Hanau.

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Frank-Walter Steinmeier has multiplied meetings on the ground with citizens and sought dialogue while rejecting violence and anti-Semitism. With the pandemic and despite health restrictions, he maintained the same course, called for vaccination while listening to and meeting opponents. In his last Christmas wishes, he acknowledged the “frustrations, irritations and feelings of alienation” which have come to light, but called for unity. “After the pandemic we should be able to look each other in the eye”he believes.

Not a great speaker

“Steinmeier is not a great orator as is generally expected of a president”noted Ulrich von Alemann, from the University of Düsseldorf. “He is a calm but very active person, who went to civil society and imposed himself as an anchor of stability”, judges this political scientist. A good point in a country that has just turned the page of 16 years of Merkel’s government.

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