Wednesday, January 05, 2022
Just in time for the 66th birthday
Union also supports Steinmeier’s second term in office
On February 13, the Federal Assembly will elect Frank-Walter Steinmeier for a second term as Federal President. There has been no doubt about that since this week. After the traffic light parties, the Union is now wrestling with it. This means that earlier considerations are off the table.
After the SPD, Greens and FDP, the Union also supports a second term in office for Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The presidia of the CDU and CSU decided on a corresponding recommendation, as it is called from participants in a joint video conference.
In around six weeks, Steinmeier, who is celebrating his 66th birthday today, is to be elected by the Federal Assembly for the next five years. He has been Federal President since 2017. The CDU / CSU recently said that many could well imagine Steinmeier’s further term in office. On Tuesday, the North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst stood behind the politician from the ranks of the SPD. “The office of Federal President deserves respect. Out of this state political responsibility I will personally support Frank-Walter Steinmeier for a second term of office,” said the CDU politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group and the editorial network Germany.
In December, Wüst had called for the Union to run with its own candidate. Now the NRW head of government said: “I have always made it clear that there can be no candidacy without the prospect of a majority – that would only damage the desire for more women in the highest state offices after Angela Merkel said goodbye.”
After the SPD and FDP, the Greens also voted for Steinmeier’s re-election on Tuesday. According to research by the German Press Agency, the SPD, Greens and FDP will together make up 776 of the 1,472 members of the Federal Assembly. That is 39 more than are required in the first and second ballot if, according to Article 54 of the Basic Law, an absolute majority is required.