Iranian Islamologist Expected to Run for German Presidency
The current president, Joachim Gauck, has said he is not going to run for reelection, according to en.europeonline-magazin.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Winfried Kretschmann, Volker Bouffier, Gerda Hasselfeldt, and Norbert Lammert are some of the likely candidates for the job.
And so is Navid Kermani, a German of Iranian background who specializes in Islamic studies.
Kermani, 48, holds a doctorate in Islamic studies and his book "God is Beautiful: The Aesthetic Experience of the Quran” has drawn a lot of attention in academic centers in Germany and other countries.
He was awarded the 2015 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. The prize has been awarded by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association on the final day of the Frankfurt Book Fair since 1950.
In a poll conducted by Die Welt newspaper, 16 percent said they would vote for Kermani, while Lammert and Steinmeier had the support of 40 and 20 percent of the respondents, respectively.
Germany’s presidential election will be held in February 2017.
