Chancellor Merz to nominate Aigner as Germany’s first woman president

What the report says

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to nominate Bavarian politician Ilse Aigner to become Germany’s next president, according to Al Jazeera’s report published on 8 November 2026. If confirmed, Aigner would be the country’s first woman to hold the largely ceremonial office. The announcement was made at a CDU leadership dinner, with formal backing still requiring approval from a joint meeting of the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, the report said.

Aigner, 61, is the speaker of the Bavarian state parliament and belongs to the CSU. The article says the Social Democratic Party, which is part of the governing coalition, has often supported her candidacy. Under German political practice, coalition partners generally need to agree on a common candidate before the Federal Convention votes on the presidency. That body is scheduled to choose a successor to incumbent President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on 30 January.

Al Jazeera reported that Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, is nearing the end of his second five-year term, which ends in March 2027. Germany’s president does not run the government but has symbolic duties, including signing laws and appointing ministers, while also serving as a nonpartisan national figure. The report adds that Aigner previously served as agriculture minister under Angela Merkel before returning to Bavarian politics.