| Name | Party | Current or former post |
|---|
| Ilse Aigner | CSU | President of the Bavarian state parliament |
| Julia Klöckner | CDU | President of the Bundestag |
| Karin Prien | CDU | Federal education minister |
| Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer | CDU | Former CDU leader and defense minister |
| Ines Claus | CDU | CDU group leader in the Hesse state parliament |
","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"[Julia Klöckner](https://567politics.com/politicians/julia-klockner) would also chair the Federal Convention itself in her role as Bundestag president, [Tagesspiegel reported](https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/bundesprasidentenwahl-weidel-deutet-aufstellung-von-afd-kandidat-an-15358326.html).\n\nSeveral men had been mentioned earlier, according to dpa: Hesse's minister-president Boris Rhein, Federal Constitutional Court president Stephan Harbarth and former constitutional judge Udo Di Fabio. dpa wrote that they were now unlikely to have a chance.\n\n## The case for Aigner, and the CDU's reservations\n\n[Markus Söder](https://567politics.com/politicians/markus-soder), the CSU leader and Bavarian minister-president, first floated Aigner in April. At the CSU party congress in Munich on October 23 he backed her again. \"That would be a great thing,\" he said, according to [ZDFheute](https://www.zdfheute.de/politik/deutschland/csu-soeder-parteitag-bayern-100.html), while acknowledging that the decision would be \"made elsewhere.\" Delegates applauded, and Aigner stood and waved from the front row. Söder said he would say it again on the Saturday, when Merz was due to speak at the congress as a guest. Merz greeted Aigner by name at the start of his own speech and drew cheers, [Der Spiegel reported](https://www.spiegel.de/politik/spd-und-gruene-sehen-zeit-reif-fuer-bundespraesidentin-a-fc05eb83-4450-4020-8f1d-506749d52032).\n\nSome CDU district chairs voiced support for her around Monday's conference, dpa reported. Dresden's CDU chair, Ingo Flemming, said: \"I would support that if that were the proposal.\" Bastian Ernst, a member of the Bundestag and district chair in Oldenburg-Land, said before the conference that Aigner would be \"in every respect a very suitable federal president.\" Christian Carmienke of Lüchow-Dannenberg said: \"One should have taken up this proposal early and pushed it together, instead of letting a long debate develop.\"\n\nOthers in the CDU are irritated by the pressure from Munich. Merkur, citing Table.Briefings, quoted an unnamed member of the CDU presidium: \"Anyone who knows the relationship between the CDU and CSU knows that such insistent pressure from Munich only does harm.\" Oliver Lembcke, a political scientist in Bochum, told AFP that by presenting Aigner, Söder had narrowed Merz's room to maneuver, and that the longer Merz waited, the harder it would be to put forward an alternative without damaging the Union.\n\n## Where the SPD and Greens stand\n\nThe SPD and the Greens have called for a woman for weeks. Dirk Wiese, the SPD's parliamentary whip in the Bundestag, told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger in October, as [quoted by Der Spiegel](https://www.spiegel.de/politik/spd-und-gruene-sehen-zeit-reif-fuer-bundespraesidentin-a-fc05eb83-4450-4020-8f1d-506749d52032): \"For me it is clear that the highest office in the state should be taken by a woman.\" He said the office needed integrity, judgment, international standing and diplomatic skill, and added: \"I do not see why only men should bring these qualities. The time for a female federal president is long overdue.\"\n\nSPD politician Ralf Stegner told the Rheinische Post that Aigner \"would certainly be a respectable candidate\" to become the first female head of state in postwar German history. Britta Haßelmann, co-leader of the Green group in the Bundestag, told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: \"Of course a woman can and should finally take on the highest office in the state. The time is right for a woman.\"\n\n## The AfD's position\n\nThe Alternative for Germany has not named a candidate. The party wants the president elected directly by the people. In March, party and parliamentary group leader [Alice Weidel](https://567politics.com/politicians/alice-weidel) told [Tagesspiegel](https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/bundesprasidentenwahl-weidel-deutet-aufstellung-von-afd-kandidat-an-15358326.html): \"We will surely again think about a suitable candidate who can bring the country together instead of dividing it.\" She said the president must be \"a person of respect who stands above all parties and camps and is respected across the nation, and not a party politician in need of a post who misuses the highest office of state to keep doing party politics.\" The AfD has not said whether it would field a woman.\n\nIn the 2022 convention the AfD had 151 of 1,472 delegates, Tagesspiegel noted.\n\n## How the Federal Convention works\n\nThe Federal Convention meets only to elect the president. Under Article 54 of the Basic Law it consists of all members of the Bundestag plus an equal number of delegates elected by the 16 state parliaments. In 2027 that means 1,260 members, so an absolute majority is 631 votes. A candidate needs an absolute majority in the first or second ballot; in a third ballot, a plurality is enough.\n\nState delegates are chosen in proportion to party strength in each state parliament, so the final numbers are not fixed until those votes take place. The election-law site [wahlrecht.de](https://www.wahlrecht.de/lexikon/bundesversammlung.html) has published a projection based on current seat counts, including the results of the September state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"},{"role":"htmltable","html":"