berlin<u+2014>germany<u+2019>s popular foreign minister, frank-walter steinmeier, is set to become the country<u+2019>s next president despite chancellor angela merkel <u+2019>s coalition parties<u+2019> initially opposing the appointment. the agreement on filling germany<u+2019>s highest public office with a veteran politician from the left-leaning social democrats averts a confrontation in the coalition ahead of the presidential election in february and less than a year before a general election next fall. but experts said ms. merkel<u+2019>s failure to find a candidate in her own conservative camp was a sign of weakness. <u+201c>this shows a certain degree of weakness and is an embarrassment, which shouldn<u+2019>t happen in a party where the chancellor is in charge,<u+201d> said tilman mayer, professor for political science at the university of bonn. <u+201c>it also shows she has passed the high point of her time as chancellor.<u+201d> ms. merkel<u+2019>s christian democrats, who hope to win a fourth term next year, dropped their initial opposition to mr. steinmeier after failing to come up with a candidate of their own, according to party officials. joachim gauck, the outgoing head of state, said in june he wouldn<u+2019>t seek a second term. <u+201c>mr. steinmeier is a man of the center of the political spectrum, respected by businesses and the society at home and abroad,<u+201d> ms. merkel said in a statement. <u+201c>particularly at times of global uncertainty and instability, a signal of stability and with that mr. steinmeier<u+2019>s support from the conservative parties is an important and right signal.<u+201d> mr. steinmeier has called u.s. president-elect donald trump a <u+201c>hate preacher<u+201d> and said after the u.s. election that he was preparing for <u+201c>difficult times.<u+201d> like mr. trump, however, he has signaled willingness to re-engage with russia<u+2019>s president vladimir putin. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s good that the coalition parties have agreed on the candidate the people of our country regard as particularly suited for the job,<u+201d> mr. gabriel told reporters. bundestag president norbert lammert, defense minister ursula von der leyen and finance minister wolfgang sch<u+00e4>uble <u+2014>all christian democrats<u+2014>had been named as possible contenders but were never nominated as they appeared unlikely to get sufficient support. with the conservative parties behind him, mr. steinmeier seems certain to become president because ms. merkel<u+2019>s coalition commands an absolute majority in the federal assembly, the electoral body that elects the head of state. while germany<u+2019>s president enjoys very little power, the election leaves a vacancy in the foreign ministry and it was unclear on monday who would become germany<u+2019>s top diplomat. mr. steinmeier will remain foreign minister for now, mr. gabriel said. one possible successor mentioned in german media is martin schulz, a social democrat whose term as president of the european parliament ends later this year. mr. steinmeier is germany<u+2019>s most popular politician, followed by mr. sch<u+00e4>uble and ms. merkel, according to a poll of 1,276 people conducted by forschungsgruppe wahlen for public broadcaster zdf on nov. 8-10. those polled also named the foreign minister as their favorite candidate for president. germany<u+2019>s next president is due to be elected on feb. 12 in a secret ballot by the federal assembly, which comprises representatives from parliament<u+2019>s lower house, germany<u+2019>s 16 states, and civil society. write to andrea thomas at andrea.thomas@wsj.com
merkel<u+2019>s party backs foreign minister frank-walter steinmeier for german president - wsj
andrea thomas