German Chancellor Angela Merkel had to sit through several hours of humiliating, nail-biting suspense as Christian Wulff, the candidate supported by her right-wing coalition for the largely ceremonial office of President struggled through three excruciating rounds of voting in the Federal Assembly before being named President.
This has been seen as a further setback for Ms. Merkel whose popularity has been in free fall ever since she won a second term as Chancellor a year ago. The fact that the election went into a third round only served to highlight the frictions within the ruling coalition.
Mr. Wulff (51) is a major player in Ms. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and was once seen as a possible Chancellor. He won 625 votes in the third round after he failed to get an absolute majority in the first two secret ballots. His main competitor Joachim Gauck, a pro-democracy activist nominated by the opposition, won 494 votes. Luc Jochimsen from the Left party withdrew in the third ballot, allowing Mr. Wulff to obtain the necessary votes.
Mr. Wulff's election was widely seen as a serious test for Angela Merkel's government, which has been riven by differences on economic policy. The governing coalition has seen its popularity plummet over unpopular measures such as aid for other eurozone countries.
Some delegates from FDP, the smaller partner in the coalition, openly expressed their preference for Mr. Gauck, and they clearly ignored the party whip.
On paper the coalition government controls 644 votes — 21 more than an absolute majority in the Federal Assembly which has 1244 delegates from both Houses of Parliament and states.
Had coalition delegates followed their party leaders, Mr. Wulff could have easily won an absolute majority in the first round of secret ballot to become new President.
However, Mr. Wulff only got 600 votes in the first ballot and 615 votes in the second, less than the 623 votes needed to win the election.
