Frankfurt's mayor clings to his office - what's next?

Created: 05/27/2022, 14:06

By: Julia Lorenz

Peter Feldmann in his short press statement in Römer.

Frankfurt's mayor did not allow questions.

©HR/Screenshot

Despite massive criticism after his recent escapades, Frankfurt's Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann is not resigning.

The Roman coalition plans to vote him out.

Frankfurt – He wants to stay.

He will not resign.

Frankfurt's Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) announced this in a less than five-minute statement on Wednesday in front of his office in the Römer.

He understood that in the eyes of many in the past few weeks he had not shown the necessary restraint, as reported by fnp.de.

"That's why I decided to almost completely refrain from representative appointments in Paulskirche and Kaisersaal until the end of the summer break," Feldmann read from a note.

Otherwise he wanted to exercise restraint.

Instead, he wants to push the issues that are close to his heart, like free childcare.

"I will not work less, but differently."

Frankfurt's Lord Mayor: Investigations and embarrassing missteps

Frankfurt's mayor had come under massive criticism in the past few weeks and months.

Demands for resignation became louder and louder.

Even his own party had appealed to him to resign.

But what happened?

In March, the Frankfurt public prosecutor's office brought charges against Feldmann.

The investigative authority accuses the mayor of accepting advantages in office in connection with the affair surrounding the workers' welfare (Awo) because his wife, as head of a daycare center, is said to have received a salary that was above the collective agreement and a company car.

Should the district court allow the charges, there would be a trial against the SPD politician.

In addition, the 63-year-old had made a few missteps in the past few days and caused irritation.

He had snatched the trophy from Eintracht Frankfurt's captain and coach at the reception of the European Cup winners.

And then a video appeared on the Internet showing Feldmann speaking over the on-board microphone on a plane to Seville that the flight attendants had put him "hormonally incapacitated".

Frankfurt: Mayor regrets missteps

"Yes, I made mistakes, I'm rightly criticized for that," Feldmann said during his press release.

When he saw the video from the plane, he was "scared himself".

After all, he is the father of two "wonderful daughters".

"I do everything to make them strong women, which is why it was wrong," said Feldmann and apologized "from the bottom of my heart".

He also feels sorry for his behavior during the Eintracht reception in the Römer.

"That evening, as a staunch Eintracht fan, I lost my head. I really wanted to touch the trophy."

Feldmann couldn't help but grin at these words.

Frankfurt: Mayor wants to let SPD membership rest

He offered his party, the SPD, to suspend his membership.

"I want to follow Boris Palmer's example," said Feldmann.

The mayor of Tübingen has agreed with his party, the Greens, to suspend membership.

However, this is not provided for in the organizational statute of the SPD.

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In paragraph 4, paragraph 1, it says: "Membership ends on death, resignation or expulsion."

However, it was not possible to clarify how the suspension of membership should work.

Journalists were not allowed to ask questions.

After reading his statement, Feldmann simply turned around and went back to his office.

Frankfurt: Mayor has "lost touch with reality"

However, the reactions to his appearance were not long in coming.

"Peter Feldmann has obviously lost touch with reality. He has proven once again that he is only concerned with himself," said SPD party leader Mike Josef and again called for Feldmann's resignation.

The mayor did not understand that it was not about him but about Frankfurt.

"The 750,000 citizens of this city have a right to the mayor taking care of their needs and not just his. He is increasingly at odds with himself," says Josef.

His deputy Kolja Müller even suggested to Feldmann that he leave the SPD: "If he wants to do the party a favor, he has to resign."

Mayor of Frankfurt: deselection procedure likely

Now it is becoming more and more likely that the factions of the city parliament will initiate a voting procedure, even the coalition of the Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt no longer shy away from it.

"We are ready to be voted out," said Yanki Pürsün, leader of the FDP parliamentary group in Römer, who called Feldmann's statement "a joke".

"He didn't understand anything. His consequences are insufficient," said Pursün.

Volt also feels obliged to support the initiation of a vote-out procedure.

Group leader Martin Huber also pointed out the resulting costs of 1.5 million euros.

"Mr. Feldmann can save the citizens these costs with a voluntary resignation," said Huber.

Frankfurt: Voting out the mayor is expensive and difficult

Deselecting a mayor elected by the people is not only expensive, it is also not easy.

According to the Hessian Municipal Code (HGO), paragraph 76, half of the city councilors must first agree to a motion to vote out.

This decision, in turn, must be approved by a two-thirds majority of politicians.

The citizens then have to vote out the mayor.

However, this is only possible if the majority of the valid votes are in favor of deselection and if they account for at least 30 percent of those entitled to vote.

As a reminder: The turnout in the 2018 mayor election was 37.6 percent, in the run-off election it was 30.2 percent.

The leader of the Greens, Dimitrios Bakakis, said that the vote was "the ultima ratio".

"After that we have nothing more in hand." "There is a great danger that this will fail and we will have an even broader grinning mayor sitting in the Römer." (Julia Lorenz)

Comment – ​​The sun around which everything revolves

By Wednesday at the latest, it should have become clear to the last person who the Mayor of Frankfurt is actually about.

Not about the city or its people, and certainly not about his own party, the SPD, but only about himself. He is the sun around which all of Frankfurt has to revolve.

Even long-time political companions are now calling on the mayor to resign immediately after his recent escapades.

Election campaigners who fought for every vote for him four years ago turn away in disgust.

Frankfurters who voted for him would like to undo this.

And what does the mayor do?

Smiles into the cameras during his self-portrayal disguised as a statement and says that a "sorry" is enough.

Sorry it's not.

Too much has happened in the past few days.

Remembering the cup theft at the Roman reception of Eintracht, how he put himself in the center of attention on the balcony, while the thousands of Eintracht fans after hours of waiting on the Römerberg just wanted to cheer for their heroes.

And on top of that the sexist comments about flight attendants on the way to the final in Seville.

A man who apparently still lives in the last century.

Absolutely disgraceful behavior for a mayor.

When he announced a few weeks ago that he no longer wanted to stand in the next mayoral election in 2024, the last sentence of his statement spoke volumes about Peter Feldmann as a person.

Then he would be the longest-serving SPD mayor in the history of the city: He is only concerned with himself.

Now he will probably get another entry in the history books.

The first mayor of the city who was chased from the court by the people of Frankfurt.

Unless he thinks of something better.

After the performance on Wednesday, however, this is not to be expected.

The unworthy spectacle in Frankfurt City Hall will continue to accompany us in the coming months.

Certainly not for the good of the city.

(Sören Rabe)