Merz to nominate Aigner as Germany’s first woman president

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would nominate Ilse Aigner, speaker of the Bavarian state parliament and a member of the CSU, to become Germany’s next president. If CDU and CSU leaders confirm her candidacy, the Federal Convention is expected to elect her on January 30; the SPD has frequently voiced support for her. Aigner, 61, entered the federal parliament in 1998 and served as agriculture minister under Angela Merkel. She would succeed Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose second term ends in March 2027, and become Germany’s first woman president.