President of the Bundestag: who occupies the second highest office in the state?

For the first time since 2005, the Group of Social Democrats is running again as the strongest force in Parliament.

This gives her the opportunity to nominate a man or a woman to succeed Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU).

It is a good opportunity to present yourself as the new strongest force and at the same time to make a good offer to Parliament as a whole.

Peter Carstens

Political correspondent in Berlin

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The office is a prominent one. In terms of protocol, the President of the Bundestag is the second highest office in the state, after the Federal President, but ahead of the Federal Chancellor. In everyday politics, it is important to lead sessions of the Bundestag in a secure manner, legally sound and articulate, and to represent the House to the outside world. Schäuble, experienced and accomplished like no other in parliament, took over the office in 2017 because, with the AfD, a strong parliamentary-critical and partially anti-democratic group had moved into the Bundestag, which had to be countered with dignity, fairness, but also harshness if necessary .

It is now up to the SPD to fill this position, and even from the predecessor you can see that the requirements are high. For the Social Democrats, the opportunity also brings problems with it: Many, not just women, are demanding that it be a woman. The last woman to take a seat on the presidential chair was Rita Süssmuth (CDU) in 1988. Before that, Annemarie Renger (SPD) was the first woman ever to hold this position. Most recently in office were Wolfgang Thierse (SPD), Norbert Lammert (CDU) and Schäuble. In addition, the three other highest state offices - the Presidential Office, the Federal Constitutional Court and the Chancellery - will soon all be occupied by men.On the previous cabinet list of a future Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the likely Chancellery Minister Wolfgang Schmidt and the powerful Hubertus Heil are also only men. So it should be a woman.

The parliamentary group trusts Mützenich

For many in the parliamentary group and in the team around Olaf Scholz, however, Rolf Mützenich appears to be the most suitable.

The parliamentary group trusts the Cologne MP and has just elected him to head the new, strong SPD team in parliament.

For Scholz, a change would have the charm that he would not have to struggle with Mützenich, who is far left ideologically.

Hubertus Heil could take over the post, or Matthias Miersch, environmental politician and chairman of the “parliamentary left” in the Bundestag.

Disadvantage in all of this: lots of men.

In addition, it is not clear whether Mützenich even wanted to.

His current position is versatile and influential, and he feels comfortable in it.

A look around the group has so far not revealed any other proposal that would have been convincing. One of the reasons for this is that several experienced women did not run for the Bundestag again because of the initially poor prospects for the SPD or for personal reasons. Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht is one of them. She would be qualified to lead the office, but no longer has a mandate. Others, such as the former migration commissioner Aydan Özoguz, did not find enough support in the parliamentary group, as it is said. But if you ask, there are other MPs who can be trusted to do something, such as Leni Breymaier, former state chairwoman in Baden-Württemberg, Kerstin Griese, Parliamentary State Secretary, or the previous deputy parliamentary group leaders Katja Mast and Bärbel Bas. However:For the head of parliament, at least at first glance, none of the above was obvious.

The parliamentary group and especially Mützenich himself are increasingly under time pressure.

The new president will be elected on Tuesday next week.

The parliamentary group's executive committee therefore meets on this Wednesday to find a proposal that as many members of the Bundestag as possible can follow in their own ranks and then also in the constituent session of the Bundestag.

The CDU politician Wolfgang Schäuble was able to convince more than two thirds of parliament of his candidacy four years ago and received 501 of 705 votes in a secret ballot.