Kommentar: Merz wagt bei der Bundespräsidentenwahl ein bisschen Merkel
Der Kanzler als großer Verlierer im Kampf um die Steinmeier-Nachfolge? Das wäre nur die halbe Wahrheit. Denn Merz verfolgt eine Strategie, die zum Erfolg seiner Vorgängerin beigetragen hat.
A persistent narrative lingers in Berlin's government quarter regarding Chancellor Friedrich Merz's alleged swift departure from the race for the Federal President. Almost everyone assumes that the CSU's Ilse Aigner will succeed Frank-Walter Steinmeier, while Merz slipped away from the selection process. This is half-truth; the actuality is that very few Kanzlers had any influence over the selection.
A case in point is Chancellor Angela Merkel. She did not exclude Joachim Gauck and had initially placed him on the list with the SPD, Greens, and FDP coalition. Only later did she introduce Andreas Voßkuhle, a former President of the Federal Constitutional Court, to the conversation, to which he politely declined. Merkel occasionally glanced at him when Gauck made his candid remarks, but he was an impartial and challenging Federal President.
Afterwards, Merkel handed over the field to her then-Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, who secured Frank-Walter Steinmeier's nomination. While this left the Union fuming, Merkel felt comfortable with Steinmeier, who proved to be a reliable statesman when he stabilized two government coalitions.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
