Ilse Aigner to be Germany's first woman president - Merz's proposal

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has announced that he will propose Bavarian politician Ilse Aigner as the country's next president. If confirmed, she will become Germany's first female head of state.

Merz made the announcement on Sunday at a dinner for leaders of his centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Aigner, president of the Bavarian state parliament, belongs to the Christian Social Union (CSU), the CDU's Bavarian sister party.

If the proposal is confirmed at the CDU-CSU meeting on Monday, her selection is almost certain. Under German political convention the coalition parties must agree on a common candidate, and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), part of the governing coalition, has repeatedly expressed support for Aigner.

The German president will be elected on January 30 by the Federal Convention, which convenes solely to choose the president. The current president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, took office in 2017 and reaches the two five-year term limit in March 2027.

The German presidency is largely ceremonial: signing laws and formally appointing ministers are its main duties. But the president also acts as a neutral arbiter above party politics and a symbol of national unity.

Although the CSU put Aigner's name forward earlier this year, Merz delayed CDU backing while considering other options, creating tension between the two parties. Aigner, 61, began her career in local politics, was elected to the federal parliament in 1998, served as agriculture minister in former chancellor Angela Merkel's government, and became president of the Bavarian state parliament in 2018.