Berlin, May 23: Horst Koehler, a former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) who advocates bolder economic reforms in Germany, was elected today as the country's ninth postwar President.
Nominated by opposition conservatives, Koehler defeated Gesine Schwan, a university professor backed by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government who sought to become Germany's first female head of state. Koehler, a 61-year-old finance expert, won by 604 votes to 589 in the ballot by a special assembly of lawmakers and state delegates in Berlin's Reichstag Parliament building. Koehler encouraged Germans in his acceptance speech to be more innovative and self-reliant, indicating he would push for further trims in Germany's welfare state.
"In my opinion Germany is too slow on the path toward a knowledge-based society," he said. "But my dream goes even further: Germany should become a land of ideas." "We have to face reality. Germany has to fight for its place in the 21st century."
Bureau Report