BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Social Democrats want a woman, health expert Baerbel Bas, to serve as the president of the Bundestag lower house of parliament as part of efforts to ensure the country’s three top political offices are not held only by men.
The executive committee of the SPD’s parliamentary group had unanimously supported the proposal, a spokesperson for the SPD said on Wednesday.
Olaf Scholz is likely to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor once a new government is formed following last month’s federal elections, while Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said he would be willing to serve a second term as federal president.
The Social Democrats would hold all three offices if Bas, Steinmeier and Scholz were confirmed to the roles.
The proposal to name Bas as Bundestag president – which is expected to be officially approved by the SPD parliamentary group on Monday – improves Steinmeier’s chances of staying on as federal president.
However, if the Bundestag presidency nevertheless goes to a man, it would strengthen the argument that the next government should include the country’s first female federal president.
Bas, who has been deputy leader of the SPD’s parliamentary group since 2019, would be the third woman to serve as Bundestag president.
Even though Germany has been led by a woman for the last 16 years, women only account for 34.7% of the incoming Bundestag. That is around 4 percentage points more than the previous German parliament.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray; Editing by Alex Richardson)
