Merkel backs new president

German Chancellor Angela Merkel bowed to pressure yesterday and agreed to back popular opposition candidate Joachim Gauck to become president, averting a political fight that might have distracted her government from solving the eurozone crisis.

Merkel confirmed her support for Gauck at a press conference in the Chancellery with leaders of the other major German parties. The announcement paves the way for the 72-year-old Protestant pastor and former East German rights activist to be confirmed in the post by Germany’s Federal Assembly in the coming weeks.

“Let’s not forget we have churchmen like Gauck to thank for the success of East Germany’s peaceful revolution,” said Merkel, herself the daughter of a pastor who grew up in the failed German Democratic Republic (GDR).