Former East German human rights activist Joachim Gauck was elected as the new German president on Sunday.

Former East German human rights activist Joachim Gauck was elected as the new German president on Sunday.

The 72-year-old Gauck, supported by most major German parties, won an overwhelming majority, claiming 991 votes out of a total of 1,232, from a special assembly of German lawmakers and other dignitaries.

His main rival senior journalist Beate Klarsfeld, nominated by the Links Party, secured 126 votes, while Olaf Rose of the far-right NPD obtained only three votes. There were 108 abstentions.

Gauck will be inaugurated as the country's 11th president since the end of World War II at the parliament next Friday.

He will also become the oldest head of state by the time of election in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, replacing Christian Wulff, who announced his resignation on February 17, 2011 over scandals sparked by a private loan on favorable terms.

Wulff had faced mounting domestic pressure after it emerged that he had failed to disclose a private home loan of 500,000 euros (about 650,000 U.S. dollars) he received from the wife of a business friend at very low rates in 2008.

He replaced Horst Koehler in mid-2010 after Koehler resigned over criticism on his remarks about the German military.

Germany's president, who stands above party politics, holds a largely ceremonial role. The incumbent typically uses his moral authority to influence debates in the society and politics.

Gauck was once the candidate of the opposition Social Democrats and Greens for president in mid-2010. He was defeated by Wulff backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel at the time.

A recent survey conducted by the German television ARD showed some 80 percent of the respondents polled took Gauck as credible and trustworthy for the presidency.

However, 37 percent of the respondents said they were not sure if he was capable of addressing issues such as the eurozone debt crisis.

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