Chancellor Angela Merkel nominated Joachim Gauck for the role of German president on Sunday, backing a candidate she had previously rejected for the post. German commentators on Monday say the popular pro-democracy activist is a good choice, but warn that his tendency to speak his mind could irritate politicians from all parties.

Germany's President is meant to serve as a moral compass for the nation but after two presidents resigned ahead of term, a gaping hole emerged at the top. On Sunday evening, Chancellor Angela Merkel named Joachim Gauck, a pro-democracy activist from the former East Germany, as the unity candidate for the job.

The 72-year-old Protestant pastor and man who oversaw the opening up of the extensive Stasi files after the fall of the Berlin Wall, will now face a vote by Germany's Federal Assembly on March 18, which is seen as a mere formality.

The long-forecast departure of Christian Wulff came last Friday, when the former president resigned following a series of corruption allegations. His exit cleared the way for Gauck to become Germany's first president to hail from the formerly communist east.