State head: “Time for color change”: Union wants to provide Federal President

A year and a half before the term of office of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, influential CDU politicians publicly demand that the highest state office in 2027 from ranks of the Union. “After two terms of Frank-Walter Steinmeier, it is time for a color change in Bellevue Castle,” said the Lower Saxony CDU chairman Sebastian Lechner to the “Tagesspiegel”. “For the first time, the Union should successfully propose a woman for this office.”

Baden-Württemberg’s CDU boss Manuel Hagel referred to the balance of power in the next Federal Assembly, in which the Union would be by far the strongest group. This also brings responsibility to “propose a candidate who represents the width in the middle of the Federal Assembly”. The Union – “and also the necessary character heads in our People’s Party”.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz also recently promoted to elect a woman in the highest state office in 2027. “I can very well imagine that in 2027 we will choose a woman for the first time in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany as Federal President. That would be good,” said the CDU federal chairman when asked about a question in Berlin. The second and thus the last term of Steinmeier (SPD) ends in March 2027.

Hail and Schnieder demand more profile

Hail made it clear that he also hopes for a different style. “In the successor of Mr. Steinmeier, I would like a head of state that not only manages our highest state office, but also shapes – someone who gives orientation in challenging times, brings our country together and sets real impulses,” he said, but did not want to speculate about conceivable candidates.

The Rhineland-Palatinate CDU party and parliamentary group leader Gordon Schnieder told the “Tagesspiegel”: “There are many personalities in the Union to whom I trust this office very well.” It was clear to him that the next head of state must be perceived again more clearly.