German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a political setback today when some of her declared supporters broke ranks in an initial secret ballot for a new German president, dpa reported. The first ballot in the Federal Assembly in Berlin failed to elect a new president to replace Horst Koehler, who resigned May 31. The assembly, a 1,244-member electoral college that only exists to choose the head of state, is meeting again to conduct a fresh ballot. At the first test, it cast a plurality of 600 votes for Christian Wulff, Merkel's nominee. Wulff is premier of Lower Saxony state. To win, a candidate must obtain an absolute majority on the first or second ballot, or a plurality on a third ballot. -- SPA
