Germany-Presidency-Koehler
German President Horst Koehler said in Berlin Thursday that he would seek a second and final tenure next year.

"I wanted clarity one year before the presidential election," added the 65-year-old Koehler who belongs to the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

The next presidential election will take place on May 23, 2009 in the Federal Assembly whose only function is to vote for a new president.

The co-governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) is also expected to name Gesine Schwan who heads the Viadrina European University in Frankfurt an der Oder on Germany's border with Poland, as a likely presidential candidate next Monday.

The 65-year-old Schwan lost to Koehler by a slim margin in the 2004 presidential poll.

Political observers in Berlin anticipate another close finish in the next presidential race.

Germans are divided over the performance of Koehler who holds a largely ceremonial post.

Chancellor Angela Merkel had masterminded the first candidacy of Koehler in spring 2004, derailing the presidential run of another CDU leader Wolfgang Schaeuble who is now Germany's Interior Minister.

Koehler who served as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2000 until 2004, has sought bipartisan for a second tenure.

Under German constitution, the president is not part of the executive and stands above the three branches of government.

This applies also to the sphere of foreign policy.

He can, however, focus public attention on vital long-term issues that need to be addressed but are not necessarily on the government's agenda.

Under Article 59 of the German constitution, the president is also authorized to sign international treaties on behalf of the Federal Republic.