Dhe date is well chosen: the sun is shining on Gravensteiner-Platz, there is a lot going on at the stalls of the weekly market, on Friday afternoon the people of Preungesheim stock up on shopping for the long weekend. Some are already drinking a glass of cider or rosé. And among the people the election campaigners, or rather: the deselection campaigners, mingle. They have set up their information stand at the edge of the square. There is a lot of interest and there is lively discussion.
Local politicians from the north of Frankfurt, from the districts of Preungesheim, Berkersheim, Bonames, Eckenheim and Frankfurter Berg, have come, members of the Greens, the FDP and the CDU. Two representatives of the social association VdK are also there. Their common goal: They want to persuade as many citizens as possible to vote in the referendum on November 6th to vote Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann out of office.
Campaign against Feldmann something special
A broad urban political coalition has come together to remove the controversial SPD politician from office, and his own party is also committed to this goal. The action on Gravensteiner-Platz is the beginning of their street election campaign. There should also be information stands like that in other parts of Frankfurt in the next few weeks.
“That’s something special,” says Beatrix Baumann, Green Party politician on the city council, who lives on Frankfurter Berg. “Normally we stand here in the election campaign, separated by party, each with their own stand, now we’re fighting together, I think that’s nice, that’s really fun.” And given the explosive nature of the topic, that’s appropriate.
It is now about the “dignity of office”. The city must now show that things cannot go on as Peter Feldmann hopes. Baumann says that it is to be expected that fighting will be tough in the coming weeks. “By all means” Feldmann will campaign for himself, he will try to present himself in a good light. As the most recent example, she cites his appointment with Vitali Klitschko.
Sudden offer to Klitschko
Feldmann met the prominent Kiev mayor in Prague and presented him with a draft for a town twinning – without first consulting the magistrate and although the town councilors had decided not to start twinning with Ukrainian towns until after the war had ended. “Feldmann tricks as soon as he hopes for an advantage,” says Baumann.
Beate Harwardt also leaves no good hair on the mayor. She came to the information stand with her mother and wants to find out how to get postal voting documents for the referendum. Harwardt has long been involved in social causes professionally. The corruption scandal of the workers’ welfare organization, in which Feldmann is involved and for which he has to answer in court from mid-October, has shaken her deeply. “Politicians should actually be people you trust,” she says. And that she believes it is a civic duty to have an opinion on the subject.
“It’s about the thing now
The campaigners on Gravensteiner-Platz are well aware that the vote could end up being tight. More than 30 percent of Frankfurt’s eligible voters, almost 154,000 voters, have to vote against Feldmann for him to be voted out. “That’s a high hurdle,” says Robert Lange, CDU city councilor from Preungesheim.
Nevertheless, he is confident. Many citizens who “do not otherwise have much to do with politics” are very concerned about the topic, and frustration with Feldmann is also spreading on social networks. The CDU politician believes it is right that his party, which sits in the opposition in the city parliament, has teamed up with the ruling Roman coalition for the voting campaign. “It’s about the thing now, it’s not about parties,” he says. And then Lange sets off again. Distribute leaflets against Peter Feldmann.
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