By Erik Kirschbaum
BERLIN, May 23 (Reuters) - Horst Koehler, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, was re-elected on Saturday as German president with a narrow one-vote victory that averted an embarrassing defeat for Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Koehler's re-election by a special federal assembly in the Reichstag parliament building gave Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their conservative allies an important morale-boosting triumph four months before September's parliamentary election.
Koehler got 613 votes in the 1,224-seat assembly, winning by the narrowest majority in the first of three possible rounds of voting after a testy year-long political battle that put strains on Merkel's grand coalition with the Social Democrats.
'Obviously I'm pleased he won in the first round,' a beaming Merkel told reporters. 'It's no secret that we're eager to have different majority in parliament (in September). That was our goal here and we accomplished it. It's good news for Germany.'
Merkel's CDU rules in a loveless grand coalition with the SPD, who backed university president Gesine Schwan on Saturday. Merkel hopes to form a coalition with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), now in opposition, in September.
The SPD is also eager to see the grand coalition ended.
Koehler's 613 votes was exactly the number he needed to win re-election as Germany's ceremonial head of state even though it was one vote less than the CDU and their allies had in the body.
Schwan won 503 votes. Narrowly beaten by Koehler in 2004, she had hoped to siphon away enough conservative votes to win -- or at least force a second and third round where her chances for an upset win were expected to rise.
SEEKING SECOND TERM
The victory of Koehler, 66, in the first round was expected to give Merkel a boost ahead of the September vote, in which the 54-year-old chancellor is seeking a second four-year term.
Merkel tried to put Koehler's re-election in perspective even though other conservative leaders saw it as the starting point for a reunion of the CDU and the FDP at federal level.
'Every election has its own special dynamic,' said Merkel, brushing off suggestions Koehler's win was a harbinger of change. 'The September election will have its own dynamic.'
However, Horst Seehofer, leader of the CDU's Bavarian CSU sister party, said the election was an important first step.
'It's a clear signal for what we're planning -- a government with the CDU/CSU and FDP,' Seehofer said.
But SPD chairman Franz Muentefering disagreed.
'This vote has no bearing on the parliamentary election,' Muentefering told reporters. He pointed out the CDU and FDP had made similar boasts after they elected Koehler in 2004 but then failed to win a majority in the 2005 parliamentary vote.
Greens leader Renate Kuenast said the CDU and FDP had some way to go: 'The September election is a wide open race.'
Merkel's CDU/CSU leads the SPD in opinion polls for September's election but is unsure of holding on to the chancellery because of complex coalition arithmetic.
If the conservatives and their preferred FDP partners fall short of a majority in September's ballot as in 2005, the two most likely scenarios are another grand coalition or a coalition without Merkel made up of the SPD, the FDP and the Greens.
A triumphant Koehler spoke briefly to the Federal Assembly.
'Our country is in the midst of a crisis hitting the whole world,' he said. 'We've got a lot of work ahead of us.'
(Editing by Philippa Fletcher) Keywords: GERMANY PRESIDENT/ (Reuters messaging: erik.kirschbaum.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
BERLIN, May 23 (Reuters) - Horst Koehler, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, was re-elected on Saturday as German president with a narrow one-vote victory that averted an embarrassing defeat for Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Koehler's re-election by a special federal assembly in the Reichstag parliament building gave Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their conservative allies an important morale-boosting triumph four months before September's parliamentary election.
Koehler got 613 votes in the 1,224-seat assembly, winning by the narrowest majority in the first of three possible rounds of voting after a testy year-long political battle that put strains on Merkel's grand coalition with the Social Democrats.
'Obviously I'm pleased he won in the first round,' a beaming Merkel told reporters. 'It's no secret that we're eager to have different majority in parliament (in September). That was our goal here and we accomplished it. It's good news for Germany.'
Merkel's CDU rules in a loveless grand coalition with the SPD, who backed university president Gesine Schwan on Saturday. Merkel hopes to form a coalition with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), now in opposition, in September.
The SPD is also eager to see the grand coalition ended.
Koehler's 613 votes was exactly the number he needed to win re-election as Germany's ceremonial head of state even though it was one vote less than the CDU and their allies had in the body.
Schwan won 503 votes. Narrowly beaten by Koehler in 2004, she had hoped to siphon away enough conservative votes to win -- or at least force a second and third round where her chances for an upset win were expected to rise.
SEEKING SECOND TERM
The victory of Koehler, 66, in the first round was expected to give Merkel a boost ahead of the September vote, in which the 54-year-old chancellor is seeking a second four-year term.
Merkel tried to put Koehler's re-election in perspective even though other conservative leaders saw it as the starting point for a reunion of the CDU and the FDP at federal level.
'Every election has its own special dynamic,' said Merkel, brushing off suggestions Koehler's win was a harbinger of change. 'The September election will have its own dynamic.'
However, Horst Seehofer, leader of the CDU's Bavarian CSU sister party, said the election was an important first step.
'It's a clear signal for what we're planning -- a government with the CDU/CSU and FDP,' Seehofer said.
But SPD chairman Franz Muentefering disagreed.
'This vote has no bearing on the parliamentary election,' Muentefering told reporters. He pointed out the CDU and FDP had made similar boasts after they elected Koehler in 2004 but then failed to win a majority in the 2005 parliamentary vote.
Greens leader Renate Kuenast said the CDU and FDP had some way to go: 'The September election is a wide open race.'
Merkel's CDU/CSU leads the SPD in opinion polls for September's election but is unsure of holding on to the chancellery because of complex coalition arithmetic.
If the conservatives and their preferred FDP partners fall short of a majority in September's ballot as in 2005, the two most likely scenarios are another grand coalition or a coalition without Merkel made up of the SPD, the FDP and the Greens.
A triumphant Koehler spoke briefly to the Federal Assembly.
'Our country is in the midst of a crisis hitting the whole world,' he said. 'We've got a lot of work ahead of us.'
(Editing by Philippa Fletcher) Keywords: GERMANY PRESIDENT/ (Reuters messaging: erik.kirschbaum.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.