CHANCELLOR ANGELA Merkel begins work to rebuild confidence in her leadership today after her government won a nine-hour marathon vote last night to elect a new German president.
Lower Saxon state premier Christian Wulff was elected president in the Berlin Reichstag shortly after 9pm last night on the third attempt after 30 rebels in government ranks voted against him in two earlier rounds.
The senior Christian Democrat (CDU) won an absolute majority of 625 votes in the third round of a secret ballot by a special 1,242-member parliamentary assembly.
His leading opponent, civil rights activist Joachim Gauck, received 494 votes from the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens.
Mr Wulff's victory was sealed with the decision by the Left Party to abstain from the third round of voting rather than backing either Mr Wulff or Mr Gauck.
Their own candidate, journalist Luc Jochimsen, pulled out of the contest after attracting just 123 votes in the second round .
The snap election for the largely ceremonial head of state position was called after the surprise resignation a month ago of President Horst Köhler.
"Germany is a wonderful country with a special history that requires a special responsibility," said Mr Wulff in his acceptance speech.
"I would like to work for a society where we would approach each other rather than pass each other by."
He thanked Mr Gauck for a "very fair competition" and promised to work to unify German society.
"I hope your voice will continue to have huge influence far beyond Germany," said Mr Wulff, who announced his resignation as Lower Saxon state premier
Despite his success, 19 members of the government camp still voted against him in the final round. After eight bumpy months in office, Chancellor Merkel has a challenge if she is to restore order to her coalition government.
"Obviously some people in our parties wanted to send a signal to the political leadership," admitted Wolfgang Bosbach, a leading CDU figures.
"Good idea, wrong day."
The election was complicated by the opposition nomination of Mr Gauck, a highly popular figure who lead opposition to the East German government in 1989.
Backed by the opposition Social Democrats, he ran a polished campaign calling for Germans to embrace greater personal freedom.
"The government votes against Wulff showed clearly discomfort over the government's performance and with Merkel's leadership," said Prof Werner Weidenfeld, political scientist at Munich's Ludwig Maximilian University. Mr Wulff, a leading conservative, has spent all of his working life in the Christian Democrats (CDU).
The 51-year-old lawyer, a Catholic in his second marriage, joined the party aged just 16 and has worked his way to the front bench.
Once considered a challenger to Chancellor Merkel's authority within the CDU, he admitted two years ago that he "lacked the absolute will for power".
His greatest political success was winning Lower Saxony for the CDU in 2003 - on his third attempt.