<p>BERLIN &mdash; German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced Friday that he will seek a second term, saying he wants to help heal divisions widened by the coronavirus pandemic.</p>
<p>Steinmeier made his pitch for another five years as Germany’s head of state four months before the country elects a new parliament, which will have a large say in whether he keeps the job. </p>
<p>In February, an assembly made up of the members of parliament’s lower house and representatives of Germany’s 16 states will choose the next president. Steinmeier’s current term ends in March.</p>
<p>Before becoming president, Steinmeier served two stints as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s foreign minister and previously was chief of staff to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The 65-year-old comes from the center-left Social Democrats, the junior partner in Merkel’s current government, but is widely respected across the mainstream political spectrum.</p>
<p>Germany’s president has little executive power but is considered an important moral authority. After a messy parliamentary election result in 2017, Steinmeier helped prod politicians to form a new coalition government rather than holding out for a new vote.</p>
<p>“A president doesn’t set the political direction, I am well aware of that, but a president can build bridges,” Steinmeier said Friday.</p>
<p>“The pandemic has inflicted deep wounds. It has brought suffering and grief, economic and psychological distress, and a great deal of frustration and bitterness,” he said. “I would like to help heal these wounds.”</p>