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Frankfurt's Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann
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Boris Roessler / dpa
The Lord Mayor of Frankfurt am Main, Peter Feldmann (SPD), wants to end his term of office at the end of January.
Feldmann announced this in a personal statement.
“I would like to spare the city of Frankfurt an agonizing and expensive voting procedure – and take the opportunity to bring my official business to a proper conclusion after more than ten years,” wrote Feldmann.
He will hand over an "orderly house".
Feldmann continued to write that the step was difficult for him.
He wanted to make life better for the people of Frankfurt.
In the statement, the SPD politician referred to various projects that he had supported, including the renovation of the Paulskirche and free access to museums and zoos for children and young people.
"During my tenure as mayor, Frankfurt has become more social, ecological and modern," says Feldmann.
Normally he would have stayed in office until 2024.
Investigations on suspicion of accepting benefits
Recently, however, the pressure on Feldmann had increased to give up his position.
Because of the suspicion of corruption, he has to answer in court.
In March, the Frankfurt public prosecutor's office brought charges based on reasonable suspicion of accepting an advantage.
Feldmann's wife, as head of a daycare center run by Arbeiterwohlfahrt (Awo), is said to have received a salary that exceeded the collective agreement "for no objective reason," it was said.
In addition, (Awo) supported Feldmann in the 2018 election campaign by raising donations.
In return, he wanted to "benevolently consider" the interests of Awo Frankfurt.
At the end of May, the district court in Frankfurt approved the indictment, so Feldmann has to go to court.
Dates for this have not yet been set.
Feldman denies the allegations.
Feldmann has also made negative headlines in recent months with several public missteps.
He had to explain himself because of sexist statements on a flight to the Europa League final in Seville, because of his behavior after Eintracht Frankfurt's victory at the reception in the town hall, he is considered complacent.
Feldmann himself regretted his appearance at the victory celebration, and he also apologized for his statement on the plane.
Feldmann's handling of the growing criticism also caused a stir.
For example, the mayor recently answered questions that arose from his behavior on the website of the city of Frankfurt am Main.
Since it was not clear who had asked the questions, the question-and-answer format sometimes seemed like a self-interview.
Politically, too, the situation for the Lord Mayor was becoming increasingly tricky.
In June, the Frankfurt city parliament had expressed no confidence in Feldmann.
A large majority of city councilors voted to begin a vote-out process in mid-July.
The coalition of the Greens, Volt, FDP and SPD had previously asked the mayor to resign immediately.
However, the 63-year-old did not respond to this.
In the meantime, Feldmann has again defended himself against criticism in his statement.
"Let's get back to each other, let's listen to each other and leave the beaten path of blame and personalized accusations," the statement said.
»Frankfurt is ready for a new start.«
fek/AFP/dpa
