2009 German presidential election

Last updated
2009 German presidential election
Flag of Germany.svg
  2004 23 May 2009 2010  
  Koehlerhorst08032007.jpg Gesine Schwan 2011.jpg Peter Sodann Worms cropped.jpg
Nominee Horst Köhler Gesine Schwan Peter Sodann
Party CDU/CSU SPD Left
Electoral vote61350391
Percentage50.08%41.09%7.43%

  FrankRennickeKopf-JD.jpg
Nominee Frank Rennicke
Party NPD
Electoral vote4
Percentage0.33%

President before election

Horst Köhler
CDU/CSU

Elected President

Horst Köhler
CDU/CSU

An indirect presidential election (officially the 13th Federal Convention) was held in Germany on 23 May 2009. The President of Germany is elected by the Federal Convention, which is made up of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of members elected by the state parliaments. [1]

Contents

The incumbent Horst Köhler (supported by CDU/CSU and FDP) stood for reelection and faced Gesine Schwan (supported by SPD and Alliance '90/The Greens). [2]

The Left (successor of the Party of Democratic Socialism) indicated they might be prepared to support Schwan if the SPD agreed to be open to cooperation with the Left on the federal level, [3] but ultimately decided they would present their own candidate. [4] The party nominated party activist and TV actor Peter Sodann on 14 October 2008; and it was left undecided whether the party would support Schwan if Sodann was eliminated after the first round of voting.

Frank Rennicke was nominated as the joint candidate of the far-right parties NPD and DVU.

Following the Hesse state elections in January 2009, which strengthened CDU and FDP, and the Free Voters' promise to support Köhler, his reelection was seen as likely; however, CDU/CSU, FDP and Free Voters only had a slim majority in the Federal Assembly (50.16%), which made the election very competitive. In the end, Köhler was reelected in the first round of voting by 613 votes, which was exactly the minimum number of votes necessary. His nearest rival's, Social Democrat Gesine Schwan, received 503 votes making a second round unnecessary. [5] It has been seen by some as an important indicator for the federal elections in September. [5]

Composition of the electoral assembly

PartySeats %
CDU/CSU 49740.6%
SPD 41834.2%
FDP 1078.7%
The Greens 957.8%
The Left 907.4%
Bavarian Free Voters 100.8%
NPD 30.2%
DVU 10.1%
SSW 10.1%
non-faction members of the Bundestag 20.2%
1,224

Results

23 May 2009
CandidatesVotes %Parties
Horst Köhler 61350.08 CDU/CSU, FDP, FW
Gesine Schwan 50341.09 SPD, The Greens, SSW
Peter Sodann 917.43 Die Linke
Frank Rennicke 40.33 NPD, DVU
Abstention100.82-
Invalid20.16-
Not present10.08-
Total of cast votes122399.92-
Total votes1224100.00-

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References

  1. See Bundesversammlung for more details and references
  2. Bundespräsident Köhler will nochmals antreten (International, NZZ Online)
  3. "Bundespräsidenten-Wahl - Linke bieten Tausch an - n-tv.de". Archived from the original on 2009-05-15. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  4. "DerStandard.at".
  5. 1 2 "German president wins re-election". BBC. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2009.