Hardly anyone doubts that Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be re-elected Federal President on Sunday. The SPD believes that continuity is particularly valuable in these turbulent times.
One day before the Federal Assembly, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier can count on his re-election.
After the Greens on Friday, the SPD leadership also called for a vote for the incumbent head of state. “This re-election means the continuity of a very, very good administration,” said party leader Saskia Esken before a parliamentary group meeting in Berlin. The country urgently needs this continuity in view of multiple crises.
Party leader Lars Klingbeil emphasized that he does not expect polarization in Germany to decrease even after the Corona crisis. “It takes someone as Federal President who is able to build bridges, who is able to bring people together, who is able to find a language that holds the country together and unites it,” he emphasized added: “We have this person with Frank-Walter Steinmeier.”
The Federal Assembly meets in Berlin on Sunday to elect a new Federal President. Steinmeier’s re-election is considered certain. The Social Democrat, who is leaving his party affiliation as head of state on hold, was nominated by the traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP and by the CDU/CSU opposition. Together these parties have a large majority in the assembly.
Against Steinmeier, left-wing physician Gerhard Trabert (65) and AfD economist Max Otte (57), who is himself a member of the CDU, are up against him. The free voters send the physicist Stefanie Gebauer (41) into the race. However, given the majority situation, none of the three is given a chance.
SPD, Greens, FDP and CDU/CSU together make up 1223 of the 1472 members. The AfD has 151 and the left has 71 delegates. The Free Voters are represented by 18 electors, the South Schleswig Voters’ Association (SSW) by 2. There are also a few non-affiliated voters.
The 66-year-old Steinmeier is only the fifth Federal President to stand for a second term. On Friday he had already presented himself in the parliamentary group meeting of the Greens. He was “a very good and highly respected Federal President,” said parliamentary group leaders Britta Haßelmann and Katharina Dröge afterwards. “That’s why we recommend our electors in the Federal Assembly to re-elect Frank-Walter Steinmeier as Federal President.”
Today he wanted to take part in the parliamentary group meeting of the CDU/CSU. The left and the AfD meet together with their applicants. Further parliamentary group meetings are scheduled for the Sunday immediately before the start of the Federal Assembly.
The Federal Assembly is the largest parliamentary body in Germany. Its only task is to elect the head of state every five years. It is made up of the members of the German Bundestag and an equal number of members who are delegated by the 16 state parliaments. Since the Bundestag currently has 736 members, the Federal Assembly consists of 1,472 electors – more than ever before.
Because of the corona pandemic, this year it will not be meeting in the plenary hall of the Reichstag building, but in the neighboring Paul-Löbe-Haus, where many meeting rooms and offices of MPs are located. There the electors will be spread over five floors.
Source: Stern
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