Berlin, October 26th, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – Germany could soon have its first female head of state, and one name keeps coming up. Ilse Aigner, the president of the Bavarian state parliament, is the preferred candidate of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU). Whether the CDU will go along with that is still unclear.
The Federal Convention will elect Steinmeier’s successor on January 30th. It consists of the 630 members of the Bundestag and an equal number of electors sent by the states. Steinmeier cannot run again because he has already served two terms.
The CSU Pushes
At the CSU party convention in Munich, party leader Markus Söder once again promoted Aigner. The decision would be made “elsewhere”, he said, but it would be “a great thing” if she got the job. In an interview with the broadcaster ARD, Söder raised the pressure by pointing out that the CSU has never provided a chancellor or a federal president in its 75 years. One could “certainly argue” that it is now the party’s turn, he said, adding that this was not about “haggling over posts”. Asked whether the office required legal training, he replied that a federal president “does not have to be a notary” but needs authority.
Aigner herself said very little. According to reports, she only stated that she was pleased about the strong support and that the decision lay with the party leaders.
Merz Keeps Quiet
Merz greeted Aigner with kisses on both cheeks when he entered the hall. At the start of his speech, he mentioned her by name right after Söder and before Manfred Weber, the head of the European People’s Party. The delegates cheered and rose from their seats, and Aigner stood up and waved. But on the question of who should become the next federal president, Merz said nothing at all.
Shortly before the convention, the CDU leadership had tried to slow the CSU down. Party circles said the CDU had not given up its claim to nominate a candidate from its own ranks.
Support From the Left
Backing for Aigner is also coming from other parties. Dirk Wiese, the parliamentary whip of the center-left SPD’s Bundestag group, told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” daily that the time for a female federal president was “long overdue”. His fellow Social Democrat Ralf Stegner told the “Rheinische Post” newspaper that Aigner would “certainly be a respectable candidate”.
Green parliamentary leader Britta Hasselmann also argued that a woman should finally take the office, but said her party would not take part in speculation about names. Beyond the CSU, former federal president Christian Wulff (CDU) and SPD politicians such as Lars Klingbeil and Hubertus Heil have also spoken favorably about Aigner.
Who Is Aigner?
Aigner, 61, comes from Feldkirchen-Westerham in Upper Bavaria. She trained as a radio and television technician in her parents’ electrical business and later qualified as an electrical engineering technician. Then she worked on helicopter electronics at Eurocopter before entering politics.
She was a member of the Bundestag from 1998 to 2013 and served as federal minister of agriculture and consumer protection from 2008 to 2013. After that, she became Bavaria’s economics minister and deputy premier. She has presided over the Bavarian state parliament since November 2018 and was reelected in 2023. Söder publicly backed her for the highest office in April of this year.
With roughly three months left until the vote, the pressure on the CDU and Merz to name their favorite is growing.