Berlin
After Wegner’s relationship outing: Senate introduces new rules
Have made their relationship public: Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) and Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch (CDU). photo
© Joerg Carstensen/dpa
Berlin’s governing mayor and his education senator are in a relationship. The head of government makes a proposal to avoid conflicts of interest. But is that enough?
After the fuss surrounding his relationship with Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch, he is moving Berlin’s governing mayor first consequences: In the future, Wegner wants to stay out of a dispute between two Senate administrations if the education department is involved. Then his deputy should mediate.
The new rules to avoid conflicts of interest should apply immediately, as Senate spokeswoman Christine Richter announced. Wegner suggested it himself and the Senate accepted it.
The Finance Senator and the Economics Senator should mediate
Both politicians (both CDU) wanted to continue to carry out their offices as before – with a strict separation of private and official matters, as Richter said. It remains to be seen whether the rule change is enough for critics of the liaison confirmed last week – the debate is unlikely to be completely over yet.
“So far, the Senate’s rules of procedure have given the Governing Mayor a mediating role in conflicts between two specialist administrations,” explained the Senate spokeswoman. In the event of conflicts between the education administration and another specialist administration, this role will now be assigned to Finance Senator Stefan Evers.
In the event of a conflict between the education administration and the financial administration, Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (SPD) will take on this role. Both are Wegner’s deputies. The new regulation applies immediately. However, it is still being examined to what extent the Senate’s rules of procedure need to be changed accordingly, said Richter.
Wegner and Günther-Wünsch announced through their lawyer on Friday that they had decided to enter into a relationship in the fall of 2023. Richter said the relationship between the two was discussed for the first time in the Senate. It is not planned for both of them to publicly comment on their private lives together.
The desire for a regulation came from the SPD and CDU
When their partnership was confirmed, both declared that they would strictly separate professional, private and official matters in their office. “From my experience, they have proven in the past months and weeks that this can be achieved,” said Richter.
“Nevertheless, there was an understandable desire on the part of the coalition partner to ensure that regulations within the coalition take this special constellation into account in the Senate.” The desire for such a regulation did not only come from SPD Senate members. “The desire was there overall.”
Giffey, who is also the SPD state chairwoman, demanded on Monday that Wegner submit a proposal to the Senate on how private and professional interests could be strictly separated. The demand for appropriate rules had previously come from the Greens and the Left, who had warned of possible conflicts of interest.
Skepticism among the SPD and the Greens
The Berlin SPD parliamentary group reacted skeptically to the rule: “It remains to be seen whether the organizational measures proposed by the Governing Mayor in the Senate today will continue to ensure stable and reliable government,” said the Social Democrats in the state parliament, who govern together with the CDU.
The Berlin Green party leaders Bettina Jarasch and Werner Graf criticized Wegner again: His statement has so far been nothing more than an oral agreement that must be bindingly incorporated into the rules of procedure. The governing mayor is legalizing behavior that is not permitted in state-owned companies, they explained. State officials are also not allowed to behave like this. “It is questionable whether such a part-time mayor with limited decision-making power can fulfill the role of a governor.”