Frankfurt’s Lord Mayor Feldmann has to defend himself in court against allegations of corruption. In parliament, the coalition and opposition voted to distrust him. But the hurdles for a deselection procedure are high and the mayor refuses to resign. The left jumps to his side.
The Frankfurt City Council has further increased the pressure on Mayor Peter Feldmann, who has come under criticism for various allegations. At a meeting, the committee approved a motion by a large majority that called for the SPD politician to resign immediately. The proposal by the governing coalition of the Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt received more than two-thirds of the votes.
The opposition factions of the CDU, AfD, BFF-BIG and IBF joined the motion of no confidence. In their application entitled “Mayor Peter Feldmann no longer enjoys trust”, the parliamentary groups demanded the immediate resignation of the 63-year-old. Otherwise, in the coming plenary session on July 14, a voting procedure will be initiated against him.
The parliamentary groups justified this step primarily with the approved charges against Feldmann for taking advantage in the course of a scandal about excessive salaries and corruption at the Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO). Added to this is his misconduct in recent weeks. This “made it more than clear” that Feldmann was “obviously not in a position” to continue to exercise his office appropriately.
Feldmann deeply shamed the entire city, said Greens parliamentary group leader Dimitrios Bakakis. The CDU city councilor Yannick Schwander accused the mayor of clinging to his office. The resignation demands from the SPD, which the opposition felt to be late, also caused criticism. The FDP was convinced that Feldmann would be voted out. Feldmann received support from the left. “Nothing has been proven yet,” said parliamentary group leader Dominike Pauli.
The hurdles to opting out are high. First, in July, two-thirds of the members of the city council must vote to vote out. After that, the majority of voters in Frankfurt must vote for the deselection. For the result to count, at least 30 percent of those entitled to vote must vote.
Feldmann himself continued to refuse to resign. If it comes to a citizens’ poll, he does not believe that the voters want a “mud fight”, he said in the debate. He offered talks but demanded fairness. “I’m ready to reconsider my role.”
The starting point of the ongoing criticism was the corruption scandal at the AWO. Feldmann’s partner at the time and later wife is said to have received too much money as the head of a German-Turkish daycare center. In March, the public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt brought charges against him for taking advantage. The indictment accuses Feldmann that this employment relationship was closed from 2014 due to his position as mayor.
In the 2018 election campaign, the Frankfurt AWO is said to have supported Feldmann by raising donations. In return, he had tacitly agreed with the person in charge of the district association at the time that the interests of the AWO Frankfurt would be “benevolently” taken into account in his office. The district court opened the proceedings against Feldmann in May. Dates have not yet been announced.
The 63-year-old has also come under pressure in recent weeks because of sexist statements on a flight to the Europa League final from Eintracht Frankfurt to Seville. There was also criticism of his behavior, which he rated as complacent, when he received the Frankfurt team after their success.
In April 2022, Feldmann declared that he did not want to run again in the upcoming 2024 election. Feldmann has held his office since 2012.
