Gauck elected German president - FT.com Joachim Gauck, a former Protestant pastor and anti-communist activist, has been elected as Germany's president. His election means the country's two most prominent political posts are filled by former east Germans for the first time since the country's unification in 1990. Mr Gauck is a potentially uncomfortable partner for Angela Merkel, the chancellor, who did not want him to occupy the post. But he was the overwhelming choice on Sunday of a 1,240-strong federal assembly made up of members of parliament and regional delegates. The vote followed the resignation of Christian Wulff, a party ally of Ms Merkel, who stepped down as president because of investigations into political favours granted when he was state premier in Lower Saxony. Mr Merkel and her allies were able to force through the election of Mr Wulff over Mr Gauck as president in 2010. This time the chancellor, and her Christian Democrat party, had to accept Mr Gauck, nominated again by opposition parties, after he was supported by the Free Democrats, the junior partner in her parliamentary coalition. Mr Gauck's accession to the role of president means Ms Merkel, also brought up in East Germany, must work with a president with whom she has acknowledged having differences. However, the chancellor welcomed the broad approval for Mr Gauck, who received 991 votes, and said she expected a "good collaboration." Most analysts said Ms Merkel was smart to acknowledge her defeat over the candidacy of Mr Gauck and move on, avoiding a domestic distraction or even a break-up of her coalition. The chancellor faces other regional electoral tests including an unexpected poll after the the ruling coalition fell in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous of Germany's 16 states. Its poll is a potential bellwether for the national elections, due in 2013. Mr Gauck has received widespread public support to become president, with polls showing voters believe he can restore trust in the largely ceremonial office. After his election Mr Gauck said he would work for "a rapprochement between those governing and the people" and recalled that Sunday's vote fell on the anniversary of East Germany's first free elections in 1990. Mr Gauck, 72, was an anti-communist activist who was given oversight of the archives of the Stasi, the East German secret police, after Germany's reunification. He is the third person to occupy the post of federal president in under two years. Horst Köhler, former head of the International Monetary Fund, stepped down in 2010, a year into his second term, amid a row over his remarks about Germany's military role. Four of the five political groups in parliament backed Mr Gauck in Sunday's vote. The Left party proposed instead Beate Klarsfeld, 73, an anti-Nazi activist, who received 126 votes.