BERLIN (Reuters) – German President Horst Koehler unexpectedly resigned yesterday after a wave of criticism over his comments about military action abroad, in a move that compounds conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel’s problems.
Already battling a euro zone debt crisis, sinking poll ratings and policy scraps with an increasingly awkward coalition partner, Merkel must now quickly find a successful candidate for president, whose role is largely ceremonial.
A failure to get her candidate installed would be widely seen as a blow to her authority.
Merkel’s conservatives had backed Koehler for re-election last year but her waning popularity means Merkel may find it difficult to push through her — as yet unknown — candidate if the opposition centre-left camp puts up a strong rival.
Though responsible for signing bills into law, the German President has traditionally had little influence on the business of politics in Berlin, even if Koehler himself did offer criticism of the government that was unusually direct at times.
“I regret that my comments could lead to a misunderstanding about an important and difficult question for our nation,” an ashen-faced Koehler told reporters in Berlin.
His resignation takes immediate effect. The President of the Bundesrat upper house, currently Social Democrat Bremen mayor, Jens Boehrnsen, assumes the president’s role for now.
Koehler, 67, has already signed off a law allowing Europe’s biggest economy to contribute to a 750 billion euro emergency debt package, and his resignation had little market impact.