For a good two years now, the city of Frankfurt has had to live with a mayor who has never been able to refute or clarify a suspicion of corruption.
The allegations that he had given his wife money and a company car simply rolled off Peter Feldmann.
So far he has been able to rely on “his” SPD, which suffered from the politician’s battered reputation, but which, due to its own involvement in the scandal surrounding nepotism in workers’ welfare (“AWO scandal”), did not exactly act like a guardian of virtue could play.
The hard-nosed game could now take revenge.
The SPD seems to be coming to its senses
Only now do Feldmann and the SPD want to see a “heavy burden” on the horizon for the city and the office.
The reason is the news that the public prosecutor's office has brought charges against Feldmann for taking advantage.
If the court allows the indictment, according to the SPD, she and Feldmann will “reassess” the situation.
That can only mean that the SPD's patience is at an end.
Two years before the next mayoral election, which Feldmann will no longer contest anyway, the SPD seems to be coming to its senses.
It is correct when she states that the presumption of innocence still applies to the mayor.
Feldmann has long since lost his political innocence in this affair.
That shouldn't matter in court.
But it weighs on a city that has long yearned for a worthy mayor.