Chancellor Friedrich Merz has offered a blunt answer to the question of who should succeed Frank-Walter Steinmeier as Germany’s president: nobody. A satirical column in the Süddeutsche Zeitung reads his remarks as meaning that Germany will either have a woman in the role or no successor to the office at all.
The column argues that Merz has committed himself so firmly to that position that it could be difficult for him to change course. It also notes that former Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to be among the delegates who choose the next president next year, and says she, too, would prefer a woman for the post.
But the piece adds that if the delegates choose a man, Merkel would be free to return to her travels and public appearances rather than take the job herself. Its suggestion that she might be a presidential candidate is presented as a joke, not as a report of an actual bid.
Sources: Süddeutsche Zeitung.