Chancellor Friedrich Merz proposed Ilse Aigner to the CDU board on Monday 9 November as Germany’s next federal president. The same day, her chief of staff said she would not visit the parliamentary group of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Apollo News reported, citing the journalist Johann Paetzold.
AfD leader Alice Weidel had invited her to introduce herself. The refusal tests what a president owes to voters who reject her.
A Historic Candidacy Takes Shape
Aigner, 61, is a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) and has presided over Bavaria’s state parliament since 2018. She entered the Bundestag in 1998 and served as agriculture minister under Angela Merkel.
If elected on 30 January, she would be Germany’s first female president and its first from the CSU, since all 12 previous holders were men. Merz and Aigner have been friends since 1998, according to the Stuttgarter Zeitung.
The CSU put her name forward earlier this year, and the CDU held back, Al Jazeera reported. The SPD presidium endorsed her, and the Green leadership wrote to members recommending her, saying it is time for a woman to hold the highest office.
The Greens have not announced a final decision. The CDU, CSU and SPD hold a combined majority of about 50 votes in the Federal Convention, so her election is very likely.
The Invitation She Declined
Weidel, who also called Aigner unsuitable for the office, framed a visit as “democratic culture and decorum”, noting that the AfD is the second-largest group in the Bundestag. Apollo News dates the invitation to Sunday, which would be 8 November.
Aigner’s chief of staff replied that deputy AfD leader Beatrix von Storch had publicly called the nomination an “Armutszeugnis”, a damning verdict, so a visit was no longer necessary.
Aigner was due to meet the Union, SPD and Greens on Tuesday 10 November. No AfD visit was scheduled.
The Left is undecided on its own candidate, and the AfD plans to field a man it describes as coming from the centre of society. The refusal is reported second-hand, through a journalist’s post and Apollo News, so I treat it as reported rather than confirmed by Aigner herself.
A Record of Conflict With the AfD
Aigner has criticised the AfD for years. In a July speech in Munich, reported by News4teachers, she called it a force that is “in parts right-wing extremist”. She also said she saw “völkisch”, inhuman thinking in talk of “remigration” on a massive scale.
Her refusal is therefore consistent with positions she took before her nomination.
The AfD has also gone to court against her. In October 2023 the Bavarian Constitutional Court rejected AfD complaints about Covid rules she imposed in the Landtag in summer 2020.
That case concerned her house rules, not her criticism of the party, so it does not settle whether her comments breached neutrality.
Can a President Refuse Dialogue?
Weidel’s argument is that courtesy and respect for AfD voters require a visit. Critics of the refusal would add that a president is meant to represent all citizens.
Nothing in the sources reviewed requires a candidate to meet every parliamentary group. The president is chosen by a Federal Convention that exists only for that purpose, not by a popular vote.
Aigner’s supporters would reply that von Storch insulted her first and that she gave a reason. The Greens’ letter said the election should not be a stage for party-political manoeuvring.
A meeting would not require agreement, but each side would read it differently, which makes either choice a judgement and not a rule.
Unity Has Limits and Costs
The episode reflects the Brandmauer, the firewall under which mainstream parties refuse to cooperate with the far right. Supporters say it protects democratic institutions, while critics say it feeds the AfD’s claim that established parties ignore its voters.
Both views are held in good faith, and the AfD will field its own candidate, so the Convention vote will not be uncontested.
Aigner is not yet elected, and the office she seeks is largely ceremonial. Its authority rests on moral standing and on being heard across party lines.
Her challenge after the vote will be to speak to AfD voters without endorsing the party they chose. Her first weeks as president will show how she does it.
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