Former IMF Head Elected German President

Horst Koehler, a former head of the International Monetary Fund, was elected Germany's ninth postwar president on Sunday with calls for fresh optimism and innovation to secure the nation's standing in the world. Chosen by a special national assembly in the Reichstag parliament building, Koehler launched into an acceptance speech that touched on themes roiling Germany as it struggles with the need for economic and social change. "As a trained economist, I cannot spare you the conclusion that I am worried about the state of the German economy, jobs and social security," he said after defeating the government's candidate, university professor Gesine Schwan. Nominated by the center-right opposition, he foiled Schwan's bid to become the country's first female president. Koehler, born into a peasant family in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II, will take over as head of state from President Johannes Rau on July 1, moving into the Bellevue presidential palace in Berlin for a five-year term.