aAfter a good hour-long debate on Thursday evening, clarity prevailed in two respects: First, the Frankfurt city councilors initiated the voting procedure against Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) with the required two-thirds majority. In a roll-call vote, 67 voted in favor of deselection, 62 votes were needed. Then – City Councilor Hilime Arslaner (Die Grünen) had barely announced the result – Feldmann had a statement distributed in which he described the voting procedure as “expensive and unnecessary” and thus made it clear: He will have the opportunity to accept the voting off within eight days , in order to make a referendum unnecessary, do not use it.
That is why the people of Frankfurt will decide on November 6th about the future of the mayor, who will have to answer before the Frankfurt district court in October and November on suspicion of accepting advantages. For the vote to be successful, a majority of at least 30 percent of those entitled to vote must vote for Feldmann’s departure from office.
“We must not abstain from voting out for fear of a quorum”
All of the appeals made in the previous debate that the mayor should accept the de-selection by the city councilors and save the city a €1.6 million ballot remained ineffective. Feldmann couldn’t hear her anyway because, as is usual in such cases, he had to leave the room.
The leader of the Greens, Tina Zapf-Rodriguez, described the events of the past few weeks as a “circus”: Feldmann had somersaults and practiced word acrobatics. “But we won’t let us lead us through the ring anymore.” Feldmann’s statement from Vietnam, with which he announced his retirement for January 2023, was an example for her, as was the press conference at which Feldmann submitted the application a week ago early retirement and voting out as options. Less than 72 hours later, one of the two options for resignation was gone. “It’s enough,” said the Greens parliamentary group leader. After the deselection vote, the citizens are now asked. “We must not abstain from voting out for fear of a quorum.”
For the CDU parliamentary group leader Nils Kößler, the mayor no longer enjoys trust and can no longer properly exercise his office. “The reason for the deselection is so simple – and so dramatic.” But it is only the second-best solution. The mayor could end the drama halfway face-saving by accepting the deselection within a week. The FDP parliamentary group leader, Yanki Pürsün, saw this as a way to protect Feldmann from himself. “Today is the day for a new beginning for the city,” said the Liberal.
SPD faction leader Ursula Busch called the initiated voting procedure a “dark hour for the Frankfurt SPD”. No social democrat wanted the decision that way. The party tried everything to find an amicable solution. But she did not reach the mayor in terms of communication, said Busch, and sketched the picture that at Feldmann “the transmitter works perfectly, but the receiver is out of order”. She justified her faction’s decision by saying that the city was becoming increasingly disenchanted with politics. “People no longer understand what we’re talking about in Römer.” Instead of talking about key issues such as the climate crisis, inflation, the drifting apart of urban society or the city’s budgetary situation, “we allow ourselves the luxury of a personnel debate.” It’s now up to the mayor , how he designed the departure, “how he wants to be remembered.” The whole thing is like a big shadow that lies over the city, said Volt parliamentary group leader Martin Huber. “Peter Feldmann is not the most important person on this earth.”
The left voiced sharp criticism of the coalition’s actions. It is the Roman coalition that is organizing a “comedian barracks,” said parliamentary group leader Dominike Pauli. It is not a man who is driving the governing coalition through the ring. Rather, she accused the representatives of the Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt of lacking communication skills. She even suspects that the Feldmann cause should only be used to “destroy the social agenda that Feldmann stands for.”
Jutta Ditfurth from the ÖkoLinx-Elf faction accused the coalition of self-pity. The desired deselection will fail due to the required quorum. Feldmann will stay in office triumphantly. With their actions, the SPD would damage the next social democratic candidate “at most”.
Right at the beginning of the meeting, there was a confrontation between the mayor and the head of the city council. Feldmann wanted to prioritize the topic of “free crèche care” on the agenda. “This is too important,” he said, and began a lengthy explanation. Because only formal justifications are allowed for the rules of procedure, Arslaner warned him several times and finally had the microphone turned off to the applause of several city councilors.