Is Merkel planning to become President of Germany?

The inner circle of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is concerned about rumors of a possible nomination of former Federal Government Chairwoman Angela Merkel (2005-2021) for the position of President of Germany.

This is reported by the newspaper Bild.

According to its information, such rumors are circulating in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which she previously led. In Merz's inner circle, as Bild writes, alarm has already been raised due to the emergence of such information, and they do not rule out that the Greens might propose Merkel's candidacy. The ex-chancellor still enjoys great popularity among supporters of this party.

In such a case, Merz would find himself in an extremely difficult situation. Relations between him and Merkel remain tense to this day, as in 2002 the latter essentially deprived Merz of the position of head of the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag, and he temporarily left politics. The chancellor wants to nominate a CDU candidate for the presidency, but above all someone loyal to him. Among the contenders are Federal Education Minister Karin Prien and Bundestag President Julia Klöckner.

The president is elected by a special body - the Federal Assembly, in which the CDU/CSU as the largest faction will have the best chances of electing their candidate, however much also depends on other parties. How alarmed Merz's inner circle is can be seen from the fact that amid the emergence of rumors about Merkel's nomination, the CDU decided to propose their own candidate in the coming weeks, although the presidential election will only take place in February 2027. As Bild writes, Merz's people are also concerned that Merkel plans to appear in public more frequently in the near future. In particular, she will participate in the CDU party congress on February 20-21 for the first time since leaving the chancellor's office.

At the same time, Merkel's own office denied her plans to run for President of Germany, calling the rumors absurd.