BERLIN, May 23, SPA -- German President Horst Koehler hopes to secure a second five-year term on Saturday in an unusually tight parliamentary vote just months before the countrychooses a new government, Associated Press reported. Koehler, 66, is a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel'sconservative Christian Democrats and a former head of theInternational Monetary Fund. Polls show that he has become one of Germany's mostpopular politicians since taking the largely ceremonialpresidency, but his re-election is not assured. Gesine Schwan, 66, a center-left Social Democrat andformer university professor, is challenging Koehler in arerun of the 2004 presidential vote. She hopes to becomethe first female head of state. A special 1,224-member assembly crammed into Berlin'sglass-domed Reichstag parliament building to make thechoice. The presidency, which carries moral authority but littlereal power, is supposed to be above the political fray.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/667202