German Chancellor and leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz (L) shakes hands with President of the Bavarian State Parliament Ilse Aigner at the Christian Social Union (CSU) party congress in Munich, on October 24, 2026. (Photo by Alexandra BEIER / AFP)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday said he wants a woman to become the next person to hold Germany's largely ceremonial presidency for the first time.
Elections to replace President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a social democrat who has been in office since 2017, are set for January 30th.
"My mind is made up on one point: it has to be a woman," the German chancellor declared, according to sources within his centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.
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Merz did not however list any potential candidates, while speaking at a closed-door meeting of local CDU officials, the party sources added.
Steinmeier's replacement will be elected by an assembly of some 1,260 voters, mostly made up of members of the two houses of parliament along with some representatives from civil society.
Among the potential candidates within the CDU are Bundestag speaker Julia Kloeckner, education minister Karin Prien and ex-defence minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
The CDU's sister party in Bavaria, the CSU, has already put forward the southern region's parliamentary speaker Ilse Aigner to succeed Steinmeier.
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