Germany's government and the two major opposition parties say they have agreed to jointly nominate Joachim Gauck as the country's presidential candidate. Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday her center-right coalition government, and the center-left opposition have rallied behind the former East German human rights activist.
Gauck was initially proposed by the opposition Social Democrats and Greens but the 72-year-old also found the coalition government's backing Sunday.
President Christian Wulff of Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union quit Friday after two months of allegations he received favors from friends when he was governor of Lower Saxony state. The new president will be elected by a special assembly next month. Germany's president holds a largely ceremonial role.
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