Steinmeier elected German president
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German president-elect, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, gives a speech after the first round of voting of the German presidential election at the Reichstag in Berlin, February 12, 2017. [Photo/VCG] |
Steinmeier, a Social Democrat who had served as foreign minister until last month, won 931 of the 1,239 valid votes by lawmakers and representatives of Germany's 16 federal states. There 103 abstentions and 14 votes were invalid.
After Bundestag president Norbert Lammert announced the results, all representatives held a standing ovation except for a few dozen members of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
The anti-immigrant AfD, which has no lawmakers in the lower house but holds seats in 10 of Germany's 16 state parliaments, is forecast to be the third-largest party after a general election on Sept. 24.
The AfD filed its own candidate, who received 42 votes.
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