Dresden (dpa/sn) - Dresden's Mayor Dirk Hilbert (FDP) rated the first round of the mayoral election in the state capital as a "clear statement". He was by far the number 1 applicant, Hilbert said on Sunday evening at an election party for his supporters at the Dresden racecourse. Shortly before the end of the count, Hilbert was ahead with 32.5 percent of the votes, but he clearly missed the absolute majority. He is also supported by the CDU, which did not put up its own candidate. Behind Hilbert came Green politician Eva Jähnigen with 18.8 percent and SPD politician Albrecht Pallas with 15.2 percent.
A second round of voting will probably be necessary, which is supposed to be on July 10th. As things stand, Hilbert will then have to deal with Jähnigen as the main competitor. "We have an agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the Left that the strongest candidate will be supported in the second ballot. I stand by the agreement," Pallas told the German Press Agency. Pallas interpreted the result as a wish from the people of Dresden for a change at the top of the town hall. The bourgeois camp with the CDU and FDP lost compared to the last mayor election seven years ago, while the progressives, on the other hand, gained.
