Frank-Walter Steinmeier is expected to be re-elected Federal President by a large majority today, as his candidacy is supported by both the ruling coalition parties (SPD, Greens, FDP) and the Christian Union (CDU / CSU).
At 12:00 (local time) the Federal Assembly convenes, consisting of 736 federal deputies and as many electors, nominated by the state party organizations and can come from any sector of German society – from time to time have been authorized to vote for the Federal President, regardless of whether they belong to the party that proposes them or not, former politicians, artists, athletes, academics, etc.
Among this year's electorate are former Chancellor Angela Merkel, nominated by the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) in its former constituency of Mecklenburg-Pomerania, former Christian Social Union (CSU) leaders and BJP Prime Minister Steiber, nominated by their party in Bavaria, former Bundestag President Norbert Lammert of the CDU and longtime finance minister and “Mr Euro” Theo Weigel of the CSU. Due to the ongoing pandemic, many distinguished physicians are taking part in the Federal Assembly this year, most recently becoming known to the general public: Karagiannidis, the SPD the co-founder of the company BioNTech that developed the first vaccine for coronavirus Ezlem Touretsi and the CDU Gerno Marx, President of the Interdisciplinary Association of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine. Popular singer Roland Kaiser is being nominated for a second term by the SPD, as is Dietmar Beer, the famous German “Commissioner Freddie” from the popular police television series “Crime Scene”.
The Bavarian SPD has nominated Bayern Munich international Leon Goretska to the Federal Assembly, while the Thuringian CDU has nominated former cycling Olympian Christina Vogel. The Greens of Baden-Württemberg have chosen the German astronaut and well-known climate activist, Alexander Gerst.
In addition to the favorite Frank-Walter Steinmeier, candidates for the post of Federal President are the nominee from the Left, Gerhart Trump, an independent professor of medicine and famous for his contribution to the care of the homeless. Max Ote, nominated by the Alternative for Germany (AfD), causing internal unrest in the CDU, as the party's conservative “Wings” leader Brandenburg local political scene and was nominated by the Free Voters, who however are represented by only 19 voters in the Federal Assembly.
Due to the pandemic, this year's election will be hosted in the “Paul-Löbe” building in Budestag, which is much larger than the plenary hall of the Federal Parliament. Otherwise, the election process remains the same – the candidate who gets the absolute majority in the first or second ballot is elected Federal President. If there is no absolute majority, then the winner then emerges with a relative majority.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier is considered the favorite of today's process. In a poll conducted by the Civey Institute on behalf of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 55% of respondents rated his first term at the Bellevue Presidential Palace positive, while 31% said they were dissatisfied. The picture is clearer in the ZDF “Political Barometer”, with 85% of respondents saying that Mr. Steinmeier is “doing his job well” and only 10% expressing the opposite view. It is also interesting that in addition to the acceptance of 94% of the SPD voters, which is considered more or less expected, the current President enjoys the acceptance of 90% of the voters of the Christian Union (CDU / CSU), 91% of the Greens , 88% of the FDP, 82% of the Left, but even 51% of AfD voters. Perhaps these facts essentially reaffirmed his support for his candidacy.
In a rare interview, Steinmeier's wife, Elke Budebender, said yesterday that if her husband was re-elected, “this will be a cause for joy and gratitude” for both of them, while expressing the hope that “the pandemic will give us after opportunity to start right “. However, she will no longer be limited to the duties of “First Lady”, but will return, as she said, to the Administrative Court of Berlin, where she worked as a Judge. “It simply came to our notice then. “I want to continue to fight for young people, for women, for participation, justice and the right to education, and my husband and I have decided that it is best in the future to be both – Judge and First Lady.” said Mrs. Budebender in the Funke Group newspapers.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
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