The CSU is actively pushing for a swift determination regarding the successor to Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the Federal Presidential Office. Klaus Holetschek, the CSU parliamentary group leader in the Bavarian State Parliament, told the newspaper Stern that Friedrich Merz recently witnessed the widespread support for Ilse Aigner during a party conference-support that he described as reaching not just Bavaria, but the entire federal republic, and extending beyond the party itself.
He added that the ball is now in Merz’s court to personally position himself. Holetschek stressed that the party conference clearly indicated: “The window of opportunity has come to make a decision,” he stated.
Maximilian Böltl, a member of the state parliament and chairman of the CSU program commission, reinforced the argument, noting that the CSU is the strongest component of the Union. Böltl said that during the joint decision-making process within the party family, it will be crucial that their candidate, Ilse Aigner, possesses the “warmth of the heart and values orientation that people are currently wishing for.”
A new Federal President is slated to be elected by the Federal Convention on January 30, 2027. Currently, the CDU, CSU, and SPD have reached a consensus on a candidate. CSU leader Markus Söder initially proposed the Bavarian State Parliament President, Ilse Aigner, for the role. As of yet, no proposal has come forward from the CDU.
