Photo: APBerlin: A German parliamentary assembly will elect the country’s new president on Sunday, and the country’s former foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is the overwhelming favourite to win. The German president has little executive power, but is considered an important moral authority. Steinmeier, Germany’s foreign minister until last month, has the support of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “grand coalition” of center-right and center-left parties. Both sides hope to end the “grand coalition.”Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, has long been one of Germany’s most popular politicians. Under Merkel, he served twice as foreign minister — from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 until this year, with a stint as opposition leader in between.

Source: Mint February 12, 2017 05:35 UTC