Berlin – The waves have been high since the AfD in the Pankow district claimed that it had elected left-wing politician Sören Benn as the new district mayor. He has ruled there since 2016, but the CDU, FDP and Greens did not want to re-elect him. He didn’t have a majority of his own, so the AfD got involved and claimed to have elected him. Then there was talk of a “political dam break” – as in the election of the Thuringian FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich as short-term prime minister with votes from the AfD.
Since Benn has so far refused to resign, the district association of the Greens and the parliamentary group there now offered the left and the SPD a political solution. But for that, Benn should resign first.
The Greens want to heal the “dam breach”
“For all of us, it is part of the basic democratic consensus to leave right-wing extremist parties like the AfD outside of parliamentary decisions. We know that we agree on this, ”said the Greens. “The fact that the AfD elected the Pankow mayor into office, or at least can claim that they did so, continues to be seen as a breach of the dam that needs to be healed together.”
The Greens want Benn to step down and then face a new election. “The parliamentary group and district executive of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen in the Pankow district are therefore offering, after Sören Benn’s resignation, for a new election on November 24th. To contain. ”With this, Benn could be elected with the 23 votes of the counting community from the Left Party and the SPD. “The majority would then come about without a doubt and the dam would be closed again.”
The question remains how it will behave if the AfD votes for Benn or claims it again. It was precisely with this justification that the left and the SPD rejected the offer of the Greens.
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