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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Save Email Print Reprints Most Popular Most Shared Analysis: G20 doesn't even try to put brave face on debt mess 7:38am EDT White hair a "healing sign" with melanoma drugs 8:09am EDT WRAPUP 4-BP chief vows to stay, sees oil spill progress 10:54am EDT BP chief vows to stay | Video 11:04am EDT Euro zone faces zero growth: Roubini 05 Jun 2010 Turkey hosts Eurasian summit amid Israel storm 6:23am EDT Two men with militant ties arrested in NY: report 4:18am EDT Circumcision may prevent sex-related penis injuries 04 Jun 2010 Gates defends U.S. spy chief nominee 6:41am EDT New Apple iPhone on tap but may fail to dazzle 04 Jun 2010 White hair a "healing sign" with melanoma drugs 8:09am EDT Drug fights tumors in advanced lung cancer 05 Jun 2010 Analysis: G20 doesn't even try to put brave face on debt mess 7:38am EDT Turkey hosts Eurasian summit amid Israel storm 6:23am EDT Tokyo cinema drops Japan-set docu "The Cove" 04 Jun 2010 Circumcision may prevent sex-related penis injuries 04 Jun 2010 Bangladesh lifts Facebook ban 3:53am EDT BP chief vows to stay | Video 11:04am EDT Two men with militant ties arrested in NY: report 4:18am EDT Australian police to probe Google over privacy issues 6:21am EDT Rival candidate for president new headache for Merkel Noah Barkin BERLIN Sun Jun 6, 2010 11:25am EDT Related News FACTBOX-Key political risks to watch in Germany Tue, Jun 1 2010 German president quits in blow for Merkel Mon, May 31 2010 German coalition partners turn rivals in key state Sun, May 30 2010 Czech centre-right parties start coalition talks Sun, May 30 2010 UPDATE 2-Czech centre-right parties start coalition talks Sun, May 30 2010 Joachim Gauck, candidate for June 30 presidential elections smiles before a news conference in Berlin, June 4, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch BERLIN (Reuters) - German media and traditional allies of Angela Merkel threw their weight behind an opposition candidate for president at the weekend, raising the risks of an embarrassment for the chancellor in a vote later this month. World Following the shock resignation of Horst Koehler last week after criticism of his comments about military action abroad, Merkel tapped Christian Wulff, a smooth-talking party ally from the western state of Lower Saxony, to take over the largely ceremonial post of president. But some are now questioning whether Wulff, a 50-year old career politician, is suited for a role that is supposed to be above politics and which past holders have built into a sort of moral authority for the nation. Instead, momentum is building for the rival candidacy of Joachim Gauck, a former Protestant pastor and anti-communist human rights activist in East Germany, who is 20 years older than Wulff and has no links to the country's political parties. Influential weekly Der Spiegel put a picture of Gauck on its front cover Sunday with the headline "The better president." Germany's top-selling daily Bild also had Gauck on its front page, next to the headline "Yes we Gauck," a twist on U.S. President Barack Obama's campaign slogan "Yes we can." The main opposition parties, the Social Democrats and Greens, chose Gauck as their candidate for the post in what German media are now describing as a political coup that could end up hurting Merkel. The president will be chosen on June 30 by Germany's federal assembly, a special body made up of members of parliament and delegates from the country's 16 federal states. SMALL CHANCE OF GAUCK VICTORY The parties in Merkel's center-right coalition have a solid majority in the 1,244-seat assembly, making Wulff's election all but assured. But analysts said there was a small risk that Gauck could emerge victorious if enough of Merkel's allies broke ranks and members of the "Linke" party could be persuaded to back Wulff's opponent -- no small task given that the far-left grouping includes former communists Gauck opposed in the former GDR. "Gauck's chances are very very slim, but we've had a lot of surprises in recent weeks, including the resignation of Koehler, so one can't completely rule him out," said Peter Loesche, professor emeritus at Goettingen University. Failure to get her hand-picked candidate into the Bellevue presidential palace would be a major blow to Merkel, whose popularity at home has hit new lows amid infighting in her coalition and whose international image has taken a beating over Berlin's delays in approving aid for Greece. Members of the Free Democrats (FDP), who have clashed repeatedly with Merkel since forming a coalition with her last October, signaled at the weekend that they were ready to defect and back Gauck. Holger Zastrow, leader of the FDP in the state of Saxony, told Die Welt newspaper that there would be no "blank check" for Wulff and said he had a great deal of respect for Gauck. Veit Wolpert, a senior FDP politician in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, told the same newspaper that there was "massive anger" that regional party leaders had not been consulted about Wulff's nomination. Gauck has a rich life story shaped by the Cold War. At the age of 11, his father was arrested by communist authorities and sent to the Gulag in Siberia. After the Berlin Wall fell, Gauck ran the state-run archives on the Stasi, earning recognition for exposing the crimes of the dreaded East German secret police. (Writing by Noah Barkin; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton) World Add a Comment *We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language or appear to be spam and review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Editorial Editions: Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom United States Reuters Contact Us Advertise With Us Help Journalism Handbook Archive Site Index Video Index Analyst Research Mobile Newsletters RSS Podcasts Widgets Your View Labs Thomson Reuters Copyright Disclaimer Privacy Professional Products Professional Products Support Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Careers Online Products Acquisitions Monthly Buyouts Venture Capital Journal International Financing Review Project Finance International PEhub.com PE Week FindLaw Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. 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