Frankfurt Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) has confirmed that he will only attend public appointments "with a sense of proportion", but at the same time emphasized that he was not guilty of anything.
At Thursday night's city council meeting, the mayor, who returned from a business trip in Singapore that morning, said, "I'm not guilty and I'm not corrupt."
He trusts in the independence and fairness of the courts.
The public prosecutor has brought charges against Feldmann for taking advantage.
The mayor said, "Even if I have nothing to blame myself for, I understand that I cannot hand over to the agenda." Unlike two years ago, he reacted immediately this time, not just days after the allegations became known.
If he withdrew completely from the public eye, that is, if he no longer kept appointments at all, the next accusation would be that he was the most expensive walker in town.
After Easter, he will seek talks with the representatives of the parties in the magistrate about the specific perception of appointments.
The mayor went on to say the allegations against him are serious and that city officials have a right to know how he is dealing with them.
"I don't hide behind legal formulations."
Mechthild Harting
Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
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Manfred Koehler
Head of department of the Rhein-Main editorial team of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
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Previously, CDU faction leader Nils Kößler had asked the mayor to finally draw conclusions from the allegations of corruption against him.
Because the truth is, according to the CDU politician, that "many people in Frankfurt would breathe a sigh of relief if the mayor resigned." Other politicians would have reacted more quickly.
Kößler referred to the then Federal President Christian Wulff (CDU) and the former Mayor of Hanover, Stefan Schostock (SPD).
After all, after the indictment by the public prosecutor's office, there was no doubt, at least for the CDU, that a court would deal with the AWO scandal.
However, Kößler accused the coalition of Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt of having “no common ground” on how to deal with the allegations against Feldmann.
Greens also speak of a scandal
Green parliamentary group leader Dimitrios Bakakis, representative of the strongest party in the city parliament, spoke of a “low point” and a “scandal” for the city with a view to the events surrounding Feldmann.
After all, the mayor is accused of having abused his power for his own benefit.
According to the Greens parliamentary group leader, politicians have a special responsibility.
"You haven't done it justice so far," Bakakis accused Feldmann.
Since the allegations became known in November 2019, the mayor has been trying to "smile away" carelessly and as "usually inappropriate".
The public prosecutor's office had been convinced for a few days at the latest that the mayor had committed a crime.
Bakakis demanded "more humility" from the mayor regarding the legal process and called on him to finally help clarify the allegations and otherwise to exercise the greatest possible restraint.
"You can't run the office without further harming the city."
FDP calls for Feldmann's resignation
FDP faction leader Yanki Pürsün found clearer words: He called for the resignation of the mayor.
That is the only correct conclusion that can be drawn from the events.
After all, the city and politics in Römer have been dealing with the AWO Feldmann scandal for the fourth year in a row.
For the Volt Group, Martin Huber said Feldmann had to resign.
The topic should not overshadow city politics.
From the point of view of SPD parliamentary group leader Ursula Busch, it is the task of the court to clarify how the allegations against Feldmann should be assessed.
Should the indictment be admitted and the main proceedings opened, the SPD would have to reassess the facts.
Until then, the presumption of innocence applies to the mayor.