Involuntary Deselection: Frankfurt Mayor Voted Out by Majority

11 November 2022 has what it takes to become a remarkable day in the history of the city of Frankfurt, Germany. After more than ten years, Peter Feldmann, the city's mayor, will resign from office. However, this did not happen voluntarily. More than 200,000 residents of the city, well over 30 percent, had directly voted Feldmann out of office in an extraordinary referendum.[1] Even though such a procedure of voting out mayors is not uncommon in the state of Hesse, this procedure in Frankfurt is nevertheless exceptional. 

But how could it have come to this in the first place? Especially in the last years of his term of office, Feldmann’s public perception changed drastically. In this context, Feldmann's behaviour at the celebration of the Europa League victory of the Bundesliga team Eintracht Frankfurt is particularly noteworthy, when he celebrated himself with the trophy on the balcony of the town hall while the footballers, including their coach, could only celebrate with the fans afterwards.

However, Feldmann also left a criminally questionable impression. His close relationship with the AWO (Workers' Welfare Association) has long been criticised. Even before his term of office, Feldmann held a position in a foundation close to the AWO. Since this position did not exist before or after him, many indications exist that the AWO indirectly supported his candidacy for mayor. In return, Feldmann is said to have "favourably considered" the interests of the AWO during his term of office.[2]

Statements about his private life have also been heavily criticised. Sexist statements and the public portrayal of his current marriage as a marriage of convenience, together with the procurement of expensive company cars for his wife, who also received an exceptionally high salary as a young professional, eventually led to investigations by the public prosecutor's office. Even though Feldmann repeatedly stated that he did not influence his wife's working papers,[3] his reputation within the population has declined significantly in recent years.[4]

Accordingly, in July 2022 the city council initiated a procedure to vote Peter Feldmann out of office.[5] Specifically, three different variants were discussed.[6]

Firstly, a resignation would have been possible with Feldmann being voted out of the city council.[7] If two-thirds of the members of the city council had voted against Feldmann, he would have had to resign from office. Feldmann, however, would have continued to receive 40 percent of his previous salary. 

Secondly, Feldmann could have accepted his deselection. If this had happened within a week of his deselection, he would have continued to receive 70 percent of his salary. 

However, neither of these options was realised. 

Since Feldmann did not accept his deselection in the city council, the citizens had to decide within six months whether he should remain in office.[8] To prevent a small but ‘loud’ minority from outvoting the ‘quiet’ majority, the hurdles for such a deselection were intentionally set high: At least 30 percent of all citizens eligible to vote must thus vote Feldmann out of office. The number of votes required to vote Feldmann out of office corresponds roughly to the total number of votes cast in Frankfurt in the 2018 election.[9]

Even though the outcome of the election was open for a long time, Feldmann was voted out by an overwhelming majority. Well over 30 percent voted against him.[10] Consequently, this deselection shows particularly one thing: even if the hurdles for a deselection are extraordinarily high and involve a lot of social effort, the citizens still have direct influence on politics and determine who represents them and their concerns. 

[1] Meliha Verderber, 'Abwahl jetzt offiziell: OB Feldmann muss seinen Platz räumen' (Hessenschau, 11 November 2022) <https://www.hessenschau.de/politik/abwahl-jetzt-offiziell-frankfurter-ob-peter-feldmann-muss-seinen-platz-raeumen-v2,feldmann-scheidet-aus-dem-amt-100.html> accessed 19 November 2022

[2] ‘FRANKFURTS OB FELDMANN: Wie geht es weiter? Zenker-Fichtner - “Skandalträchtig wie eh und je”’ (06 November 2022) < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAJ66o1XSMw > accessed 19 November 2022

[3] Redaktionsnetzwerkdeutschland, 'Frankfurter OB: “Kein Einfluss auf Gehalt meiner Frau genommen”' (RedaktionsNetzwerkDeutschland, 27 November 2019)<https://www.rnd.de/politik/frankfurter-ob-kein-einfluss-auf-gehalt-meiner-frau-genommen-A7V4KAKVPXYQKJ47LAIEDHYPHU.html> accessed 24 November 2022

[4] Leo eder, christian kreutzer, isabel gebhardt, björn widmann, 'Frankfurts OB Feldmann nach vielen Skandalen abgewählt' (SWR3, 07 November 2019)<https://www.swr3.de/aktuell/nachrichten/feldmann-sexistische-aeusserungen-100.html> accessed 24 November 2022

[5] ‘Abwahlverfahren gegen den Frankfurter Oberbürgermeister Peter Feldmann | hessenschau DAS THEMA’ (July 2022) < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOLAvzCaK04 > accessed 19 November 2022

[6] ‘Stadtverordnete stimmen für Abwahl von Peter Feldmann | hessenschau’ (July 2022) < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3Epsne3Lxo > accessed 19 November 2022

[7] Ruhestand auf Antrag aus besonderen Gründen [2015] OJ 1 331-1/1

[8] ‘Abwahlverfahren gegen den Frankfurter Oberbürgermeister Peter Feldmann | hessenschau DAS THEMA’ (July 2022) < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOLAvzCaK04 > accessed 19 November 2022 

[9] Hessenschau, 'Feldmann triumphiert bei Frankfurter OB-Stichwahl' (OB-Stichwahl in Frankfurt am 11 März 2018, 11 March 2018)<https://www.hessenschau.de/politik/wahlen/ob-wahl-frankfurt/feldmann-triumphiert-bei-frankfurter-ob-stichwahl,ob-stichwahl-frankfurt-ergebnisartikel-100.html> accessed 24 November 2022

[10] Hessenschau, 'Feldmann triumphiert bei Frankfurter OB-Stichwahl' (OB-Stichwahl in Frankfurt am 11 März 2018, 11 March 2018)<https://www.hessenschau.de/politik/wahlen/ob-wahl-frankfurt/feldmann-triumphiert-bei-frankfurter-ob-stichwahl,ob-stichwahl-frankfurt-ergebnisartikel-100.html> accessed 24 November 2022