Posse about Peter Feldmann: A poker game would be undignified

The veil lifts.

Completely of his own accord, as the statement from Ho Chi Min City indicated on Tuesday, Peter Feldmann clearly did not announce his resignation.

He had been informed shortly before when the trial before the district court against him would begin.

In mid-October it should be so far that for the first time a Frankfurt mayor will stand trial on suspicion of corruption.

That's dramatic enough.

From Feldmann's point of view, it was also an inconvenient time for the city council to decide to schedule his deselection in November.

Then, in all probability, the process would be in its hot phase and the Feldmann case would be on everyone's lips.

For Feldmann, such an expulsion would mean losing his post on the day the election result was officially determined.

He now wants to avoid the risk.

It remains to be seen how strongly this also resonates with wanting to “spare the city from an agonizing and expensive voting procedure”, as he wrote.

In any case, the city councilors now have to keep a cool head and not let the reins of action be taken out of their hands.

Another Feldmann puzzle

The farce of resigning in installments must not lead to a poker game under which Feldmann resigns his office.

The city council, as the city's highest body, must demand a short-term, binding commitment from him and must not accept that the resignation request will be made at the beginning of next year.

Why he still wants to lead the process as Frankfurt's mayor remains another mystery for Peter Feldmann for the time being.

The presumption of innocence also applies to him as a simple citizen.

It will be a hook-and-eye process, but hopefully not a spectacle.

Taking advantage is a complex crime.

It is sometimes difficult to prove whether a climate of favoritism was created in which the incorruptibility of the public sector was endangered.

The outcome of the proceedings is open, a conviction currently seems just as possible as an acquittal.

Whether Peter Feldmann speculates on what would follow from the latter, only he knows at the moment.