Bavaria's CSU is openly promoting Ilse Aigner, president of the Bavarian state parliament, as the governing coalition's candidate to succeed Frank-Walter Steinmeier as German president. CSU leader Markus Söder has backed her publicly, but Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU has not yet named a candidate, and the Federal Assembly is not due to vote until January 30, 2027.
Ilse Aigner, president of the Bavarian state parliament (Landtag) and a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), has emerged as the candidate most openly promoted within Germany's governing coalition to succeed Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. CSU leader and Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder has publicly backed her, while the CDU under Chancellor Friedrich Merz has not yet committed to a joint candidate, according to reporting by ZDF.
What is known
Söder first mentioned Aigner's name in a ZDF summer interview in 2026, saying he considered her a strong potential candidate for the office. He has since repeated his support, telling reporters he would fully back her if she sought the position, according to ZDF.
If elected, Aigner would become the first woman to hold the office of Bundespräsident, according to ZDF. Reactions from coalition partners have been mixed to favourable: SPD finance minister Lars Klingbeil praised her as a bridge-building figure while declining to comment further on named candidates, and CDU politician Sepp Müller said she has qualities the office requires, ZDF reported. The far-right AfD, through co-leader Alice Weidel, has rejected her candidacy, pointing to a 2025 episode in which Aigner, presiding over the Bavarian Landtag, cut off an AfD lawmaker's microphone during a debate, according to ZDF.
Who is Ilse Aigner
Born on December 7, 1964, Aigner entered the Bavarian state parliament in 1994 and served in the German Bundestag from 1998 to 2013, according to her English-language Wikipedia biography. She was federal minister for consumer protection, food and agriculture under Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2008 to 2013, then returned to Bavaria as deputy minister-president and state economics minister from 2013 to 2018. She briefly served as acting Bavarian minister-president in March 2018 before becoming president of the Bavarian Landtag that November, a post to which she was re-elected in 2023.
What is still unclear
Chancellor Merz has not publicly stated a position on Aigner. ZDF reported that the CDU has asserted its own right to put forward a candidate and has not ruled out naming an alternative instead of simply endorsing Aigner.
The coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD includes a commitment to nominate a woman for the presidency after twelve men have held the office, according to ZDF. Names occasionally mentioned as alternative, male candidates include Hessian state premier Boris Rhein and former constitutional court judge Udo di Fabio, though ZDF described their chances as unlikely. Both the AfD and the Left Party have said they will not support Aigner and plan to field their own candidates, according to ZDF.
Timeline
Steinmeier's second term ends in 2027. The Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung) — comprising all 630 members of the Bundestag plus an equal number of electors delegated by the 16 state parliaments — is scheduled to convene on January 30, 2027 to elect the next president, according to ZDF. CSU figures have pushed for the coalition to settle on a joint candidate by autumn 2026, according to ZDF.
Key facts
Item
Detail
Candidate promoted
Ilse Aigner (CSU), president of the Bavarian Landtag
Backed by
Markus Söder, CSU leader and Bavarian Minister-President
CDU position
No joint candidate named yet; asserts right to propose its own
Office at stake
Federal President, succeeding Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Election date
January 30, 2027 (Bundesversammlung)
Historic first, if elected
First woman to serve as Bundespräsident
If Ilse Aigner wants to, she has my full sympathy and support.
— Markus Söder, CSU leader, quoted by ZDF
Questions
Who is pushing Ilse Aigner for German president?
CSU leader Markus Söder has publicly backed her, and the Bavarian party has pressed its coalition partners, the CDU and SPD, to settle on her as a joint candidate, according to ZDF.
Has the CDU agreed to nominate Ilse Aigner?
No. As of the reporting reviewed, Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU has not named a joint candidate and has asserted its own right to propose someone, according to ZDF.
When will Germany's next president be elected?
The Federal Assembly is scheduled to convene on January 30, 2027, to elect Frank-Walter Steinmeier's successor, according to ZDF.
Would Aigner be Germany's first female president?
Yes. If elected, she would be the first woman to hold the office of Bundespräsident, according to ZDF.
What is Ilse Aigner's current job?
She is president of the Bavarian state parliament (Landtag), a position she has held since November 2018 and was re-elected to in 2023, according to her Wikipedia biography.
How the world is telling it
GermanGerman reporting (ZDF) frames the story primarily as an intra-coalition negotiation: the CSU is pressing its claim to the presidency and pushing for a fast decision, while the CDU under Merz asserts its own right to name a candidate rather than simply endorsing the CSU's choice, against the backdrop of the coalition's agreement to nominate a woman after twelve male presidents.
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