President vote provides test for Germany's Merkel

[June 30, 2010]  BERLIN (AP) -- A special assembly was voting Wednesday for Germany's new president in what analysts describe as a crucial test for Chancellor Angela Merkel's troubled government.

The 1,244 delegates -- half federal lawmakers, the other half nominated by state parliaments -- were voting for the largely ceremonial role by secret ballot in Berlin's Reichstag parliament building. The process could take up to three rounds of voting, but a final result was expected later in the day.

Merkel's center-right coalition has struggled since taking office in October. It has been hit by constant squabbling over policy and the eurozone debt crisis forced it 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 -- fueling 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 May 31. Koehler's move mystified many but he said only that he felt unduly criticized for an interview he gave on the German military's role abroad.

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.

But 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 center-right assembly members say rival Joachim Gauck, 70, is a better candidate and argue the widely respected former East German human rights activist has more moral authority than Wulff.

Vice Chancellor Guido Westerwelle said there are only three to five dissenters, but the opposition Social Democrats and Greens have worked hard to drum up support for Gauck.

The third opposition group, the Left Party, has nominated little-known lawmaker Luc Jochimsen. Many of its members have little time for Gauck, who after reunification oversaw the archive that displayed 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," said Nils Diederich, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. But he added that, even then, Merkel likely wouldn't resign.

If, on the other hand, Merkel's candidate wins in the first ballot, it might help her regain some momentum, Diederich added.

[Associated Press; By VERENA SCHMITT-ROSCHMANN]

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