Most Germans Expect Steinmeier to Fare Well as President

A majority of Germans expect Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the government’s favorite, to make a good federal president, a fresh Emnid poll published by a local newspaper revealed Sunday.

BERLIN (Sputnik) — As many as 59 percent of respondents are confident that ex-Foreign Minister Steinmeier will fare well after he takes over from former pastor Joachim Gauck, while 19 percent said he won’t, the Bild am Sonntag reported.

Steinmeier, 61, stood down last month to seek presidency after 77-year-old Gauck said last June he would not run for a second term, citing old age. His term expires on March 17.

The German newspaper said the decision to back the Social Democratic candidate had not come easy to Christian Democratic Chancellor Angela Merkel, who faces a tight race for chancellorship with SPD’s frontrunner Martin Schulz this fall.