Germany Govt: Discussion About Trichet Succession Premature 5  FEB   BERLIN - The German government currently won't discuss Jean-Claude Trichet's successor as president of the European Central Bank, German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm indicated Friday. BERLIN (MNI) - The German government currently won't discuss Jean-Claude Trichet's successor as president of the European Central Bank, German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm indicated Friday. "It is too soon for such a discussion," Wilhelm said at a regular government press conference here. "Trichet's mandate only expires next year," he pointed out. Last weekend a senior member of Germany's free market-orientated Free Democratic Party (FDP) publicly backed calls for a candidacy of Bundesbank President Axel Weber as next ECB President. "The FDP backs Bundesbank head Weber. He is an excellent candidate," Silvana Koch-Mehrin head of the FDP group in the European Parliament, told German media earlier this week. "The Bundesbank president represents a stability policy which is important especially from a German viewpoint," said Koch-Mehrin, who is a member of the FDP's national party board. The FDP governs together with Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right CDU/CSU bloc. Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle, also an FDP politician, last week declined to comment on reports that the government is pushing Weber to become the next ECB President. "Because I want a successful filling of the job, I'm not saying anything on that," Bruederle said. "The result is what counts, not media reports." He added that "Weber does an excellent job as Bundesbank president." Weber himself last month refused to entertain the issue at all. "No comment," he said. "Jean-Claude Trichet is the [ECB] president." --Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com [TOPICS: M$$EC$,M$X$$$,M$G$$$,MGX$$$,MT$$$$] 2/5/2010 6:13:00 AM