New fuss about the RBB and the election of its director: According to a legal report, the selection of candidates and the election procedure were riddled with serious deficiencies, as the RBB itself reports on its website. The expertise was prepared on behalf of the staff representatives; It’s about the election of Ulrike Demmers as the new head of the broadcasting company in mid-June.
The report also calls for a new election. This is the only way to “remedy the illegal situation that has occurred,” quotes the RBB – the formal and substantive errors are too serious. The criticisms of the report in detail, as presented by the RBB:
- The co-determination rights of the staff representatives in the appointment of the new director were inadmissibly restricted.
- The selection of applicants was unprofessional and chaotic and there was no equal opportunity.
- The fact that a fourth round of voting was held was also criticized. In the third round of voting, Demmer missed the necessary majority, even though she was the only remaining candidate at that point.
- The so-called remoteness of public broadcasting from the state is enshrined in the constitution. However, this is counteracted by Demmer’s election, as she was deputy spokeswoman for the federal government from 2016 to 2021. It is also incompatible with the state’s distance that Dietmar Woidke, the Prime Minister of Brandenburg, wrote a letter to the administrative board before the election. This committee concludes the employment contract with the director.
From all this, the expert, Potsdam law professor Marcus Schladebach, not only concludes that there must be a new election, reports the RBB. The chairmen of the Broadcasting Council and the RBB Administrative Board would also have to be removed because they were obviously overwhelmed by their positions. Sabine Jauer, the chairwoman of the RBB staff council, said it was necessary to work through this search process in order to draw the right conclusions for the future.
Demmer was elected on June 16th – after a long meeting and amid protests from many employees. She only took office on September 1st, as the successor to Katrin Vernau. She, in turn, took over the position as crisis manager on an interim basis a year ago after the resignation of station boss Patricia Schlesinger, against whom allegations of taking advantage and nepotism had been made.