Merkel under pressure as new German president elected
The government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing a tough test with today's election of the country's new president.
Merkel's centre-right coalition has struggled since it took office in October - hit by constant squabbling over policy and forced by the eurozone debt crisis to push through an austerity drive and unpopular rescue packages for Germany's European partners.
The contest for the presidency, a largely ceremonial but symbolically important job, has added another layer to its troubles - fuelling speculation in recent weeks that a loss for Merkel's candidate could push her coalition to the brink of collapse.
"Angela Merkel is in the midst of her political career's worst crisis," political scientist Gerd Langguth wrote in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
That crisis climaxed when President Horst Koehler, nominated by Merkel in 2004, abruptly stepped down on May 31.
Koehler's move mystified many. He said only that he felt unduly criticised for an interview he gave on the German military's role abroad.
In any case, the loss of a president whom she chose and who was only one year into his second five-year term was seen as a major blow to Merkel, adding to her own bumpy second-term start.
"The unpopular Greece-euro decisions... and the budget cuts, the disappearance of a president - handling this would be difficult for anyone," Langguth wrote.
"And this week, the threat of an unpredictable secret presidential ballot comes on top of it all," said Langguth, who has published biographies on both Merkel and Koehler.
The German president is elected by a special assembly of 1,244 representatives - half federal politicians, the other half nominated by state parliaments.
On paper, Merkel's coalition has a comfortable majority with 644 seats. Leaders of her coalition agreed on a joint candidate - Lower Saxony state governor Christian Wulff, 51, a deputy leader of her conservative party.
Still, Merkel's coalition has struggled to close ranks in the face of a challenge from an opposition candidate widely viewed as more exciting than clean-cut career politician Wulff.
Some centre-right assembly members say rival Joachim Gauck, 70, is a better candidate - a widely respected former East German human rights activist who would offer more moral authority than Wulff.
Vice Chancellor Guido Westerwelle said on Monday that there are only three to five dissenters, but the opposition Social Democrats and Greens are working hard to drum up support for Gauck.
The Social Democrats and Greens have only 462 seats and are far from their own majority, but uncertainty in the secret ballot is enough to create anxiety.
The third opposition group, the Left Party, has nominated little-known politician Luc Jochimsen. Many of its members have little time for Gauck, who after reunification oversaw the files of East Germany's secret police, but may be tempted to back him just to embarrass Merkel.
Merkel's success or failure will likely be measured by the number of ballots it takes to elect Wulff. A president can be elected by simple majority if no-one wins an absolute majority in the first two ballots.
If a second or third ballot is needed, "that would be a small defeat for the coalition", one expert said.
The election moved into a second round of voting this afternoon after Merkel's candidate failed to immediately secure a majority.
Parliament speaker Norbert Lammert said Wulff secured 600 votes in the first round, short of the 623 required for an absolute majority. Gauck won 499, while Jochimsen secured 126.
If no candidate secures 623 votes in the second round, the contest will go to a third round in which a simple majority suffices.
