Merz Says Germany's Next President Must Be a Woman, Per Party Meeting Accounts

At a closed-door meeting of local Christian Democratic Union chairs in Berlin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz reportedly said the next president of Germany must be a woman. The account comes from participants who spoke to the German news agency DPA, not from a public statement. According to them, Merz said he would put a consensus candidate from the political center to the party, and added that he was firm in his belief that it must be a woman.

The office he was talking about is the federal presidency, Germany's official head of state. The chancellor leads the government. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a former Social Democratic foreign minister, took the post in 2017, and his second term ends in March 2027.

The field is already taking shape. Bavarian premier Markus Söder recently proposed Ilse Aigner of the Christian Social Union, the CDU's Bavarian sister party. The CDU may instead put forward someone from its own ranks. Three names have been mentioned: Julia Klöckner, the current parliamentary speaker; Karin Prien, the families minister; and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a former CDU leader and defense minister. The party's top leadership is expected to propose a candidate on November 9.

The remarks came on a day when Merz had a full agenda. At an AI conference in Berlin he argued that Germany must speed up its own artificial intelligence capabilities to keep what he called digital sovereignty. Countries that fall behind, he said, risk handing control to outside providers, and Germany must avoid becoming entirely dependent on third parties. He called the question existential in the context of AI. He said human dignity and values should guide the technology, and that adapting would take an enormous technological and organizational effort and a far-reaching modernization of the state and the economy. He said Berlin would work with like-minded partners such as France and Canada to share knowledge and diversify supply chains. Critics say Germany has been too slow to build the digital infrastructure and skills it needs, even though many companies have adopted AI.

Merz was also due to address the same gathering of local party leaders about the weekend's youth protests. Tens of thousands of young people marched across Germany demanding better education funding and lower living costs. The protests were largely peaceful, but some were followed by rioting. In Frankfurt, people threw stones and petrol bombs, smashed shop windows and looted businesses, and more than 100 police officers were injured. According to his prepared speech, Merz took a positive message from the weekend, that young people are politically engaged and worried about their future. He also promised no tolerance for violence and said offenders would feel the full force of the law.

The riots drew other reactions. Stefan Genth, head of the German Retail Association, said society as a whole must ensure retailers can work unhindered, and called it alarming that some shops took extra security measures or closed entirely. Education Minister Karin Prien said the violence pointed in part to problems with integration.

For now, the presidential question rests on a secondhand account of a private meeting. The date to watch is November 9, when the CDU leadership is expected to name its candidate, and whether that person is the centrist consensus pick Merz described.