Gauck for president

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) on Sunday gave up their opposition and accepted rights activist Joachim Gauck as the nominee to succeed former president Christian Wulff.

Chancellor Merkel called Gauck a "teacher of democracy," saying that he could be an asset to the government on the issues of globalization and the debt crisis.

Merkel's coalition partner, the Free Democrats (FDP), had signaled unanimous support for the 72-year-old Gauck earlier in the day during coalition talks in Berlin despite initial opposition from within the ranks of the CDU.

FDP chief Philipp Rösler said it was good that the parties had managed to find a multi-party nominee, adding that Gauck could restore trust in the highest state office and engender enthusiasm for democracy.

Gauck, who narrowly lost his previous presidential bid to Wulff two years ago, is a Protestant pastor and civil rights activist from the former East Germany. He also formerly served as the federal commissioner that oversees the archive of East German secret police files.

Gauck said it was important that the people of Germany learn again that they "live in a good country which they can love."

Opposition favorite

Gauck is strongly supported by the center-left Social Democrats and the environmental Greens, both parties having nominated him to run against Wulff two years ago. SPD chief Sigmar Gabriel said that Gauck could overcome the divide between German citizens and the political establishment.

The co-chair of the Greens, Cem Özdemir, called Gauck an "authentic citizen," saying he was happy that the presidential nominee now enjoyed widespread support in both the political establishment as well as among the people.

The mass circulation weekly newspaper Bild am Sonntag published a poll on Sunday indicating that 54 percent of Germans support Gauck as the next president.

Before accepting Gauck, Merkel's CDU had proposed Protestant theologian Wolfgang Huber and Klaus Töpfer, the former chief of the UN's environment program, as potential presidential candidates. The FDP reportedly viewed Huber as too close to the SPD and Töpfer as a potentially dangerous bridge to a future CDU-Green coalition.

The Federal Convention, made up of the federal parliament and representatives nominated by the state parliaments, will vote on Gauck's candidacy by March 18. The CDU has 486-488 votes in the body while the SPD has 329-330, the Greens 146-147, the FDP 136 and the Left Party has 125. There are also 16 votes belonging to no major party and a small number are to be decided by lottery.

slk/acb (AFP, dpa, Reuters)