Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Discussing President of Germany

 In February of 2022, the President of Germany (Frank-Walter Steinmeier) would come to the end of his five-year period.  He would be either reconfirmed, or the Bundestag would recommend another person for the post.  I should note here, the general public does not have a vote in this matter...it's entirely handled by the Bundestag itself.

Any discussion right now over this matter?  None.

It's mostly a ceremonial position, where he can meet heads of state and not bicker in the matters of laws being set.

How things look presently?  He's 65 and in decent health...so it's not unreasonable that they'd meet and reconfirm the guy for another five-year period.

Would the election in September set the stage for a change?  Maybe.  Steinmeier is a SPD guy, and the party had a lot of cards on the table to get the votes lined up.  

How things look for September's election?  I don't see the SPD Party getting much past 14-percent of the vote.  The Green Party, in the past two years....has energized itself, and if Annalena Baerbock were the Chancellor candidate for the party, I think they might be able to swing past 20-percent on votes....maybe even near 25-percent.  

In this scenario, I suspect the Greens would swing some deal (probably as the coalition partner) and push one of the key older members (maybe Claudia Roth) as the candidate for the President's job.  

Does it matter in any sort of way?  Generally, no.  It's one of those jobs where you make around twenty-five speeches a year, attend thirty-odd funerals, condemn Nazis at least five or six times, and avoid confrontational situations.  The person is supposed to be an intellectual of sorts (like a retired university professor) and mostly stay out of the spotlight.  

What you can anticipate....about a month after the election, as the coalition is put together....this will be one of the top ten subjects discussed.  One party will get the nod to select someone for the President's job, and lose out on a Minister's post as part of some deal.  

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