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Christian Drosten, chief virologist at the Charité:
Photo: Jörg Carstensen / dpa
The term of office of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier ends in February.
At the request of the Berlin Greens, the virologist Christian Drosten will help determine the successor.
The Greens parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives has nominated the director of the Institute for Virology at the Berlin Charité as a delegate for the Federal Assembly.
The Federal Assembly elects the Federal President on February 13, 2022.
When electing the German head of state, not only politicians are allowed to vote: the assembly consists of the 736 members of the Bundestag and the same number of delegates sent by the 16 state parliaments.
In the past, the former national soccer coach Joachim Löw or the drag queen Olivia Jones were involved.
According to the distribution key, the Berlin Greens can name seven members.
In addition to Drosten, the Green parliamentary group nominated the journalist Ferda Ataman, the MEP Erik Marquardt, the Vice-President of the Berlin House of Representatives, Bahar Haghanipour, and the three parliamentary group leaders Bettina Jarasch, Kapek and Gebel as further delegates for the Federal Assembly.
Sign "against the defamatory attacks"
Drosten was "one of the most important voices of science worldwide in the fight against the coronavirus," said the parliamentary group.
Politicians rely on science to make evidence-based decisions, said parliamentary group leaders Antje Kapek and Silke Gebel.
With the posting of Drosten, a sign should be set "against the defamatory attacks on scientists".
The SPD in the Lower Saxony state parliament has already named delegates: TV presenter Klaas Heufer-Umlauf, singer Thees Uhlmann and actress Denise M'Baye are to help decide on the election of the Federal President in the coming year.
Lower Saxony is sending a total of 73 delegates, who will be elected by the state parliament in Hanover in the coming week.
mrc / dpa