AICGS: ANALYSES : 2009 Election of the German Federal President, May 29, 2009

On May 23, a federal convention was held to elect the next German Federal President (Bundespräsident) in a race considered to be a bellwether for the Bundestag elections in September. The two main candidates, sitting President Horst Köhler (CDU) and Professor Gesine Schwan (SPD), entered into the contest without a clear frontrunner, but by the end, Köhler was reelected by a comfortable margin. The following articles represent some of the analysis of the impact of the election from both sides of the Atlantic.

English Links

"'Twittergate' Over German Poll Results," By Chris Bryant, Financial Times, May 27, 2009.

"Germany Looks Ahead to September's Election," Deutsche Welle, May 24, 2009.

"Köhler Presidential Win Boosts Merkel's CDU," By Erik Kirschbaum, Reuters, May 24, 2009.

"Merkel Gets Election Boost as Köhler Wins New Presidency Term," By Tony Czuczka, Bloomberg, May 24, 2009.

"Horst Köhler Wins Second Term as German President," Deutsche Welle, May 23, 2009.

"German President Re-elected," By Nicholas Kulish, The New York Times, May 23, 2009.

"Köhler Re-elected as German President," By Geir Moulson, The Associated Press, May 23, 2009.

"A Presidential Peek at September," By Dr. Jackson Janes, May 15, 2009.

German Links

Coverage from Der Spiegel

Coverage from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Coverage from Süddeutsche Zeitung

"Köhlers Direktwahl-Vorschlag - populär, aber unplausibel," By Gerd Langguth, Der Spiegel, May 27, 2009.

"Die merkwürdige Online-Posse um Horst Köhler," By Klas Roggenkamp, Die Welt, May 27, 2009

"Ein ganz eindeutiger Verfassungsverstoß," Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 29, 2009.

"Ein äußerst knapper Sieg und viel Heiterkeit," By Katharina Schuler, Die Zeit, May 25, 2009.

"Schwans Niederlage: 'Mittelfristig gut für die SPD,'" Interview with Gerd Langguth, Die Zeit, May 24, 2009.

"Für Horst Köhler kann es knapp werden," By Stefan Reis, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, May 23, 2009.