国际英语新闻：German ruling coalition nominates Wulff as president candidate

BERLIN, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The German ruling coalition on Thursday nominated Christian Wulff, premier of state Lower Saxony, as their president candidate.

Former German President Horst Koehler resigned on Monday after a week of criticism over a radio interview which allegedly linked military deployments abroad with the country's economic interests.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she is happy that Wulff is ready to take on this office at this difficult time and praised him to be a "wonderful future President" at the press conference with Wulff at the Reichstag parliament building.

Wulff expressed his sorrow for the resignation of Koehler and said he will contribute all his efforts to "serve the country and its people" and "to bring people together and do something for the cohesion of the society and provide courage and optimism in difficult times."

Wulff is a deputy leader of Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and is widely expected to be elected on June 30 by an assembly of 1,244 state and federal lawmakers, as Merkel's coalition enjoyed a majority there.

The opposition Social Democrats and Green Party said they would nominate a candidate Friday.

The German president has a largely ceremonial job, but traditionally functions as the nation's moral voice.

Christian Walter Wiesengrund Wulff, 50, is a lawyer by profession. He has served as Prime Minister of the state of Lower Saxony since March 4, 2003.