{
  "id": 18634663,
  "title": "Federal Presidential Election: Ilse Aigner is the uncrowned candidate - criticism of Merz",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/07/bundesprasidentenwahl-ilse-aigner-ist-die-ungekurte-kandidatin-kritik",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-11-07T03:45:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/bundespraesidentenwahl-ilse-aigner-ist-die-ungekuerte-kandidatin-kritik-an-merz/100268048.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Ilse Aigner, the 61-year-old President of the Bavarian State Parliament, is set to be nominated as the Union's candidate for German President. The CDU has followed the CSU in backing her bid, with Chancellor and CDU leader Friedrich Merz expected to officially propose her to the party's leadership. Aigner would be the first female President and the first from the CSU if elected, with the Union and SPD having a majority in the Federal Convention, which will choose the successor to Frank-Walter Steinmeier on January 30. The Greens and some within the CDU have criticized Merz's handling of the process, while AfD and the Left have rejected Aigner's candidacy.",
  "summary": "Officially, her candidacy is not supposed to be announced until Monday, but there are no more doubts about it. Instead, there is widespread approval - and criticism of the Chancellor from the Greens.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}