Frank-Walter Steinmeier elected German president: assembly vote

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2017
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BERLIN - Germany's former foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the centre-left Social Democrats was elected Sunday as the country's ceremonial president in a vote held in the national parliament.

Steinmeier, 61, was voted in as head of state for a five-year term with 931 out of 1,239 valid votes by a special Federal Assembly, made up of lawmakers and state deputies as well as artists, writers and other citizens.