Anti-Communist pastor Gauck elected German president

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Germans resoundingly elected Joachim Gauck, a former Lutheran pastor and human rights activist from communist East Germany, as president of Europe's most powerful country on Sunday, creating a potential political headache for Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In the largely ceremonial office of president, Gauck poses no threat to Merkel's domination of national politics, but his moral authority, independence of mind and lack of party affiliation could make him an awkward partner for her government as it struggles to overcome Europe's economic crisis.

Gauck, 72, won 991 votes in the federal assembly comprising members of parliament and regional delegates that elects German heads of state. His main rival, veteran anti-Nazi campaigner Beate Klarsfeld, got 126 votes.

Germans hope Gauck, a prominent player in the peaceful protests that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, can restore dignity to the presidency, a post tarnished by financial scandals that toppled his predecessor Christian Wulff

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/18/uk-germany-president-result-idUKBRE82H06320120318

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. Nt

[denem]

2. Now both President and the Chancellor are from the (former) DDR.

Maybe historic, but I don't find it reassuring. Whatever their personal political convictions, then and now, they grew up in an environment that took exception to a plurality of views.

[iandhr]

3. I don't know...

... Mrs. Merkel seems pretty good at convincing voters to vote for her.

[unkachuck]

6. "Now both President and the Chancellor are from the (former) DDR."

....I find that encouraging....maybe they'll remember the good parts of East Germany and forget the bad....

[David__77]

4. Beate Klarsfeld, an interesting choice for the Left Party.

Nonetheless, she was the progressive candidate in this race.

[tabasco]

5. Seems like a good choice.

Good luck to the Germans as they try to avoid the dismantling of their social welfare system by their right-wingers.