In the wake of the resignation of Germany’s President Christian Wulff last week, there were many names which were circulating around as a possible successor candidate, but it did not take more than a weekend for a consensus to form around   Joachim Gauck – someone who already generated much popular support as a presidential candidate in 2010.

Gauck has emerged as one solution to the challenge of finding a common denominator. Not only have both the Greens and the SPD expressed their interest in Gauck, but the FDP surprised the Chancellor with an announcement that they also are interested in proposing Gauck as a candidate. This initially presented Chancellor Merkel with a dilemma. She had opposed Gauck for the Presidency in 2010 and his renewed candidacy could be interpreted as evidence that she bet on the wrong horse by supporting Wulff. Furthermore, it was not expected that she would change her mind now. But in the end, Merkel had to accept what was a building wave of support for Gauck. And now it appears that he will be elected on March 18.

The choice for Gauck also hinged on his popular support which has remained intact, as has Gauck’s integrity and national reputation as a defender of civil rights in the old GDR and a pathfinder for Germans, both east and west, following unification

It would be a healthy signal for the country if March 18 would need only one round to complete Gauck’s election– a task that would require an absolute majority of the Federal Convention. Christian Wulff needed three rounds before he could achieve a simple majority.

A mutli-party majority would be a helpful start for the new President as he embarks on establishing a trustful link with the German public. Furthermore, it would be helpful for a Chancellor who needs to sustain her support for a number of challenges which will last longer than the election of a new President next month.

The end of the Wulff Presidency

The assumption of innocence before guilt is firmly built into the German judicial system. But in political office, trust is equally important in the eyes of the nation. German President Christian Wulff finally lost that trust and drew the consequences. His resignation came after a long and media drenched road of accusations and explanations followed by more accusations. The final straw was the decision of a state prosecutor to investigate previous dealings of Christian Wulff when he was Minister President of Lower Saxony. That step requires the German Parliament to vote to lift the immunity of the President to permit such an investigation to proceed. There was no question that the Parliament would have voted for it.

A few weeks ago, a resignation was deemed unlikely, in particular because Chancellor Merkel, the original sponsor of Christian Wulff for the Presidency, stood by him. In the end that support was not enough to stem the tide against Wulff. A state prosecutor asking the parliament to investigate the Federal President is unprecedented in Germany.