German president resigns following financial scandal

German President Christian Wulff has announced his resignation following a series of financial scandals and allegations of graft. In a televised statement on Friday, Wulff, 52, explained that the country deserves "a president that enjoys the trust of not only a majority, but a broad majority of citizens". “I am ... today stepping down from the office of federal president to free up the way quickly for a successor,” Wulff added. His resignation comes after prosecutors asked Germany’s parliament to deprive the leader of immunity during a probe into accusations of financial impropriety against the president. The German president has been caught up in scandals since last December. Wulff is suspected of accepting favors during his time in office as governor of the state of Lower Saxony. He has been accused of accepting a personal loan of 500,000 euros at favorable interest rates in order to purchase a home when he was governor from 2003 through 2010. Wulff is the first German president to face a formal criminal investigation. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s presidential candidate, Wulff served as Lower Saxon state premier from 2003 to 2010, when he was appointed as the German president.