It's all a matter of marketing.

With the right title, even a matter-of-fact municipal law action can win.

In any case, "decision by midnight" sounds more promising than "observance of the deadline according to § 76 paragraph 4 sentence 6 HGO".

The relevant section of the HGO abbreviated Hessian Municipal Code states that the Lord Mayor of Frankfurt can accept the decision of the city council on July 14 to vote out within a week.

In this case, no referendum would be necessary, with which Frankfurt would have to finally decide on the fate of the directly elected mayor.

Bernhard Biener

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung

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Peter Feldmann (SPD) can submit the corresponding letter to the head of the city council Hilime Arslaner (The Greens) until midnight this Thursday.

But on the evening of the city council meeting, he wrote in a statement about confrontation and a “month-long paralysis of local politics” and offered a fairness pact for the campaign to end elections.

Even without saying it explicitly, the clear signal was that he would let the referendum on November 6 come to pass.

Collect signatures for the resignation

When 81 social housing units were handed over to ABG Holding on Tuesday, Feldmann confirmed his impression that he would not accept being voted out.

Rather, he emphasized how important the issue of living is still for him.

He spoke of new building areas such as the controversial urban expansion in the northwest.

"The topic is not yet settled." Feldmann announced a meeting "right after the summer break" to discuss how things will continue there.

And he revisited one of his campaign hits: the development of the Pfingstberg between Nieder-Eschbach and Nieder-Erlenbach.

"This is the answer to our children's housing needs," he said.

"I know it makes me unpopular.

But it's not one of the mayor's jobs to make himself popular everywhere."

The parliamentary groups must therefore be prepared to convince as many citizens as possible to take part in the vote by November 6th.

Because the hurdle of 30 percent of those entitled to vote who have to vote for Feldmann to be voted out of office in order to successfully end the procedure initiated by the city parliament is high.

The quorum corresponds to the turnout when Feldmann was re-elected for a second term in the 2018 runoff against Bernadette Weyland (CDU).

At least 150,000 Frankfurters would have to take part in the vote – but only if everyone voted yes to vote out.

Each no vote increases the required turnout.

In any case, the requirements will not be lowered by November, as proposed by the FDP in the state parliament.

The Liberals want to stagger the quorum according to the size of the cities.

According to her proposal, the participation required for larger cities should be lower, but not less than 15 percent.

So far there have been two attempts to mobilize citizens on this issue.

Since May, the Junge Union has been collecting signatures for Feldmann's resignation with an online petition.

Before the most recent city council meeting, Frankfurt JU chairman Leopold Born handed over a symbolic poster with more than 10,000 signatures to city council leader Arslaner.

Citizens also sent a good 2,200 postcards of the “woman with the sign” to the mayor.

First with a request for resignation and now the appeal to accept the deselection within the deadline.