With a large majority, the Frankfurt city council voted to vote out the controversial Lord Mayor Feldmann. They are not waiting for his voluntary resignation in January. According to his own statement, the 63-year-old does not accept the deselection. A referendum is now likely.
The Frankfurt SPD Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann is to be voted out of office by the citizens. The city council voted today in the Römer town hall with 67 votes to vote out the controversial mayor. Feldmann did not accept the vote-out decision. A few minutes after the decision of the city parliament, he had a statement distributed in the city hall. In it he reacted "with regret and great concern" to the decision. Feldmann must now resign within a week, otherwise a referendum will be sought. This was scheduled for November 6th.
"A deselection is not only expensive, but also unnecessary," said Feldmann. He offered his resignation at the end of January. However, the coalition decided "to take the path of confrontation". "They accept months of paralysis in local politics for a few weeks shorter term of office - not to mention the risk that the end result will not be the result they want, not to mention the risk." In the referendum, 30 percent of those eligible to vote must decide against Feldmann.
Despite Feldmann's decision to resign, the coalition factions decided on Wednesday evening not to wait until January, but to leave the previously submitted motion for deselection on the agenda. The necessary two-thirds majority was considered safe. An alliance of Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt governs the Römer in Frankfurt, but Feldmann also wants to get rid of the opposition CDU. The referendum could take place in November at the earliest. At least 30 percent of those entitled to vote would have to vote for Feldmann's deselection. In view of the rather low voter turnout in local elections in Frankfurt, this is a high hurdle.
Since Feldmann did not accept the deselection, he will stand trial as the incumbent mayor. The public prosecutor's office brought charges in March on suspicion of accepting an advantage. It's about Feldmann's close ties to Arbeiterwohlfahrt (Awo). Feldmann's wife is said to have received a salary in excess of the collective agreement as the head of an Awo day-care center "without any objective reason". According to the public prosecutor, Awo also supported Feldmann in the 2018 election campaign by raising donations. In return, he wanted to "benevolently consider" the interests of Awo Frankfurt. Feldmann rejects the allegations and emphasized several times: "I'm not corrupt."
The SPD politician was elected mayor of the largest city in Hesse in 2012 and was confirmed in office for another six years in 2018. At the beginning of last week, after massive pressure from his own party, Feldmann announced his resignation - but not until the end of January. In doing so, he wanted to save the city of Frankfurt "an agonizing and expensive vote-out procedure," as stated in a written statement.
