Neither the mistrust, which the city councilors are likely to express with a large majority in the meeting on Thursday, nor a vote-out procedure that could be initiated on July 14, will Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) be persuaded to withdraw of his own accord.

He made that clear again on Wednesday.

"I love my job, but I'm not glued to my chair," he shared.

He is not worried about facing the direct vote of Frankfurt for the third time.

Mechthild Harting

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Bernhard Biener

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung

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Catherine Iskandar

Responsible editor for the "Rhein-Main" department of the Sunday newspaper.

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Feldmann claims to have been re-elected in 2018 with more than 70 percent.

"If the city council decides to do so in July, I will take part in a citizen survey so that the citizens can decide." Until then, his door will be open at all times.

Also to speak openly with the parliamentary groups about alternatives.

This Thursday, the city councilors will decide in the plenary session of the city parliament on the "motion of no confidence" against the Lord Mayor of Frankfurt presented by the Roman coalition.

The left-wing faction in Romans will not agree with this.

The party and parliamentary group have now decided that.

"Weighing up all the allegations known to us, we do not see sufficient reason at this point in time to submit an application for deselection," it said in a statement.

And one will not “let oneself be driven by other parties”, which, as the left put it, “have different motivations for a motion by Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann to be voted out”.

For the left, the time has come for a vote-out procedure "should his guilt be determined by a court".

The left's decision comes as no surprise

The decision that the party and parliamentary group of the left made together comes as no surprise.

A few days ago, Left Party leader Michael Müller let the public know that his group did not support the "motion of no confidence" presented by the Roman coalition.

After all, it not only means that the city councilors want to withdraw their trust in the directly elected mayor, but also an ultimatum.

The motion submitted by the Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt states that a vote-out procedure will be initiated against the mayor in the plenary session on July 14 if Feldmann does not “make his office available with immediate effect”.

The left justifies its no with reference to the costs, duration and chances of success of a voting procedure.

In all probability, the left will thus oppose the large majority of city councillors.

It is becoming apparent that, apart from a few individual votes, the overwhelming majority will call on the mayor to resign.

The board of directors of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) in Frankfurt sharply criticized this approach in a letter to the members of the magistrate and group leaders.

In it, he calls on the actors in politics and the media to exercise “objectivity, proportionality and the rule of law”.

Anyone who calls for Peter Feldmann's resignation without waiting for the outcome of the court proceedings is putting himself above the law and practicing prejudice.

The DGB chairman Philipp Jacks writes in the letter that "police protection had to be ordered again for Peter Feldmann,

How the DGB came to this statement is unclear.

A spokesman for the Frankfurt police told the FAZ on request that the police continued to use the measures with Peter Feldmann that had always been standard for a mayor.

"The measures have not increased." But of course you react to current developments and always evaluate the respective situation.

The police did not want to comment on the question of whether threats had been received against Feldmann.

A spokeswoman for the State Criminal Police Office, which is responsible for risk and threat management, referred to the usual ongoing review of protective measures.

From the point of view of the DGB board, it is not the mayor that is damaging the reputation of the city and democracy, but rather the "constant repetition of the unsolved allegations against him".

For his part, he asks Feldmann to be “restrained and topic-oriented in his work” and advocates professional, external mediation in order to implement the coalition agreement.