WORLD
NEW GERMAN PRESIDENT TO BE ELECTED JUNE 30
Baku, June 1 (AZERTAC). The speaker of Germany`s parliament says a new president will be elected by lawmakers on June 30, according to Guardian.
Speaker Norbert Lammert called the session of a special assembly that elects the head of state Tuesday — one day after the shock resignation of President Horst Koehler.
A new president must be elected within 30 days and Lammert arranged the election for the last possible day in that timeframe.
The president is chosen by an assembly of lower-house lawmakers and representatives of Germany`s 16 states.
German politicians now have to figure out who should replace Koehler even as they are preoccupied with trying to make budget cuts amid Europe`s government debt crisis.
The president has a largely ceremonial job but traditionally functions as the nation`s moral voice.