“In the name of the magistrate, I invite you”: With this common formulation, Peter Feldmann also invited to a reception in the Kaisersaal on Thursday evening.

The occasion was the spring festival Norouz, which is celebrated in the Persian language and culture and which he wanted to celebrate with guests and Roman politicians.

The mayor chose the worst possible time: those politicians who deal with the diversity of cultures in the city were bound by the diversity committee of the city parliament, which was meeting at the same time, including the diversity department head and Green Mayor Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg.

Mechthild Harting

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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This uncoordinated action can be considered typical of the SPD mayor.

According to the Hessian Municipal Code, he formally forms the city government together with the department heads elected by the city parliament.

He should therefore coordinate with both them and the city parliament.

One might have expected that, especially after 2016 when his own party, the SPD, became part of the Roman coalition.

Feldmann has missed these considerations in the past.

In addition, the AWO affair and the accusations leveled against him in this context are affecting his relationship with the magistrate and the city parliament.

When coalition talks began in Frankfurt after the local elections a year ago, the Greens in particular, who emerged as the strongest party in the elections, pushed for a regulation to limit the mayor's room for manoeuvre.

Especially since Feldmann himself had brought into play before the election that he wanted to use his right to allocate departments, which is guaranteed by the Hessian municipal ordinance, and also to give important tasks to honorary city councillors.

Unyielding negotiators

These statements, the painful experiences in previous years and the fact that two days before the local elections the public prosecutor's office had announced that they wanted to investigate the mayor, have made the Greens unyielding negotiators on the Feldmann issue.

"The mayor should not be part of the coalition." That was the stipulation of the Greens.

Observers agree: Not only they, but all negotiators, including those of the SPD, who have blamed Feldmann and the AWO affair for their poor election results, are pursuing the goal of doing everything possible to ensure that Feldmann is as little involved in the work of the new coalition as he is could possibly influence.

The coalition agreement of the new traffic light plus alliance presented on May 21 states: “The coordination of fundamental questions and the regular exchange of information within the coalition take place in the coalition round.” And further: “In order to enable constructive cooperation, the mayor participate in meetings of the coalition round in consultation.”

What at first hardly anyone could have imagined has actually succeeded, as the Romans say.

Feldmann has accepted the agreed departmental responsibilities and practically does not take part in the coalition talks.

"He sticks to it," says Green Party leader Dimitrios Bakakis, "Feldmann is not part of the coalition and does not take part in the coalition rounds." He was invited to a maximum of three meetings, and then only to individual agenda items.

Bakakis therefore takes the view that the announcement by the public prosecutor's office that they will now bring charges against Feldmann does not burden the working relationship in the coalition.

"There's no sign of that," says Bakakis.

He is certain: the four-party alliance will continue to act as one - also next Thursday,

In the end, the guests at the spring festival reception on Thursday evening were not greeted by Feldmann, but by deputy Eskandari-Grünberg.

At this point, the SPD had already let it be known that, in their opinion, it "makes sense" for the mayor to hold back on publicly effective appointments.