🇩🇪 German media report that Angela Merkel may be nominated for the position of President of Germany next year. The office of the former Chancellor rejected the claim, calling it “absurd.” Bild reported rumours within the conservative Christian Democrats, which Merkel once led, that the Green Party could propose her for the largely ceremonial role. “That is absurd,” a spokesperson for the former chancellor’s office said in response to an inquiry from the Tagesspiegel newspaper. In a separate response to Germany’s dpa news agency, the spokesperson answered “no” when asked directly whether Merkel would be available as a candidate. The remarks come as political parties begin weighing possible candidates ahead of next year’s election of a successor to incumbent President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.