Frankfurt’s controversial Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) was voted out in a referendum. This emerges from the preliminary interim results that the city published on the Internet on Sunday.
After counting almost all voting districts, more than 95 percent voted for Feldmann’s deselection. At the same time, the second condition was met, according to which at least 30 percent of all those entitled to vote had to vote for the deselection. This corresponds to 152,455 yes votes, shortly before the end of the count this number was more than 196,000.
A good half a million Frankfurters were called upon to vote on the future of the SPD politician. Feldmann admitted defeat in the evening. “That means that I will no longer be mayor on Friday.” On this day, the final result of the vote will be officially determined.
The 64-year-old has been under pressure for many months. He is currently in the dock of the Frankfurt district court on suspicion of corruption, and he has repeatedly slipped up. He let calls for his resignation fade away, he did not accept being voted out by the city councillors, which is why the citizens were now asked.
suspicion of accepting an advantage
The OB is charged with suspected acceptance of an advantage. It is about his close ties to Arbeiterwohlfahrt (Awo). Feldman denies the allegations. He also gambled away sympathies, for example when he knocked out a sexist slogan at the expense of the stewardesses on an airplane and snatched the Frankfurt Eintracht European Cup in the Römer. The Eintracht leadership then declared him an undesirable person in the stadium.
Recently he caused criticism in the court again: In a statement read by his lawyer, it was said that he had married his wife because of an unwanted pregnancy. He later apologized to his daughter for the passage about his view at the time that the child should be aborted better.
For weeks, Frankfurt’s city politicians have been campaigning for votes against Feldmann. For this purpose, the coalition partners Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt have teamed up with the largest opposition party, the CDU. Around 250,000 flyers and 12,000 posters were printed, and pub crawls, home visits and information stands were organised. “We want to restore the dignity of the city,” said CDU district chairman Uwe Becker.
Voting is extremely rare
Meanwhile, representatives from the left spectrum emphasize that he has done a lot for the city. Feldmann primarily took up the cause of social issues, such as more services for families, affordable housing or the fight against aircraft noise. In the pandemic, he rejected tax increases.
It has only been the case in Hesse since 1993 that mayors are elected directly by the people and not by the respective municipal council. Since then, a mayor can only be voted out of office by the citizens. According to the Hessian Association of Cities, such a deselection is extremely rare.