The day after the city councilors withdrew their confidence in the mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) with a full two-thirds majority, Dimitrios Bakakis still shakes his head when he thinks about Feldmann's speech in the city parliament.

"I'm stunned," says the Greens parliamentary group leader, that Feldmann, who has to answer in court for allegations of taking advantage in connection with the AWO scandal, "presents himself as a victim".

Feldmann said in his speech on Thursday evening in the Römer town hall: "I'm so sorry," but the coalition factions "can't blame me for everything."

Mechthild Harting

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

  • Follow I follow

Green politician Bakakis had definitely expected “that things would get bad” if the city councilors asked the mayor to resign two years before the end of his term of office with an overwhelming majority, especially with the votes of the SPD parliamentary group, Feldmann’s own party.

After all, the SPD parliamentary group made this request for the first time after the court had admitted the indictment a week ago.

In the end, 73 of the 85 local politicians present, i.e. 86 percent, voted for the "motion of no confidence" presented by the coalition.

A simple majority would have sufficed for this vote.

But Thursday evening was also a practice run for July 14th.

On that day, should Feldmann not announce his resignation beforehand, the coalition of the Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt want to initiate the voting procedure.

The municipal ordinance provides that the city councilors initially vote for the deselection with a two-thirds majority, i.e. with at least 62 votes, so that in the next step - in the case of a city council resolution on July 14th, this would be in the period between October 14th and January 13th - citizens can vote.

According to the municipal code, 30 percent of those entitled to vote – that would be around 154.

That would be more than the 106,700 Frankfurters who elected Feldmann mayor in the 2018 runoff.

Or, as AfD city councilor Markus Fuchs pointed out to the mayor in the debate: "If the quorum required for your deselection had also applied to your election, then you would not have come into office."

Feldmann's appearance in the city council meeting offered enough material for irritation for the Roman coalition.

Among other things, in connection with an article in the "Bild" newspaper, in which he was referred to as "Pattex-Peter", he called the Pattex manufacturer Henkel "a National Socialist model company".


But he also said that the parliamentary groups in the city government would have to decide “whether they accept my offer to talk again”.

And further: "Let's see together how we can find our way back to a substantive, respectful cooperation in the interests of the city." The people of Frankfurt did not want a "mud fight".


Offered a voluntary retreat?

Feldmann always wanted to negotiate, always just "deal", it says in the Romans.

After all, the 63-year-old SPD politician had sought talks with the city government twice in the past few days.

He is said to have made offers for a voluntary retreat, according to the motto: Maybe in a year - after the Paulskirchen anniversary in May 2023, which is very important to Feldmann.

Or later or already in February?

Being mayor is "not a normal employment relationship that you can lengthen or shorten at will," says the Roman.

In any case, the democratic rules, which in Hesse have included the direct election of the mayor since 1992, do not provide for such “dealing”.

Bakakis said at the city council meeting that the coalition felt it had "a duty" to respond to the court case and Feldmann's performances "that shamed the entire city."

"Just waiting for the court process," as Feldmann intends, "is not enough." Bakakis added on Friday: "We cannot ignore the events surrounding Feldmann, especially in the interest of the people of this city, whose representatives we are in the city parliament." And because Feldmann does not act, the coalition must "go to the extreme and submit the deselection to the citizens for a decision".

Only Feldmann himself could prevent this step.

Or as SPD faction leader Ursula Busch said in her urgent and personal appeal to Feldmann on Thursday: “Peter, resign.

Clear the way for the representation that Frankfurt deserves.”