Supporters of Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition appeared divided Saturday on whether to support the man she has nominated to take over Germany's ceremonial presidency. The selection of a new president by an electoral college at the end of this month is emerging as a key test for Merkel's disunited three-party government. The three party leaders jointly nominated Christian Wulff, a Christian Democratic state premier, to the post. Criticism welled up Saturday in the Free Democratic Party (FDP), the pro-business group led by Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, with provincial FDP officials complaining that they had not been consulted and that they were not impressed by Wulff, 50. In a bold coup, opposition parties have nominated Joachim Gauck, a conservative, 70-year-old retired public official with a national-hero aura, to run against Wulff. On paper, the Merkel camp has 644 to 646 seats in the electoral college, a majority of 21. Gauck ran a government agency 1990-2000 that unmasked communist informers and became a crusader for liberty and against communism. He stressed Saturday he was above faction, telling a newspaper, Bild, he would have been just as willing to be Merkel's candidate. -- SPA
