Lord Mayor of Frankfurt

by - Monday, February 12, 2018

Let's face it: most elections in the world have the entertainment value of a melting glacier, and Germany might just be the forerunner when it comes to high-octane, power packed action in politics. 

Okay, quite the contrary, actually. And to treat its citizens to an encore of even more yawn inducing politics as practiced from the middle, the Germans don't even have a government yet. And so it happens. The dullest debates are performed by the dullest candidates, despite a generous pallet of topics that would make the US look like ruminants by comparison, with their eternal loop of canned discussions about abortion, gun control, same sex issues, and God. Where is the excitement in Germany? We have largely the Social Democrats to thank for the lack of that, the second strongest party in Germany (or the fifth weakest, depending on your perspective). Their lineup of chancellor candidates has been a who's who of human sleeping pills and a main reason that the Social Democrats have enjoyed their perennial status as runners up behind the Conservatives for years. 

Of course, the Conservatives and Merkel hardly spell excitement themselves, which is why the Germans get what they deserve in the end: the two main central parties forming a coalition, with more of the same to come in German politics. Nobody is really happy, although Germans also know they could do far worse. The initial negotiations between the black-yellow-green fractions (Conservatives, Libertarians, Green Party), also known as 'Jamaica', failed, leaving the door open for the Social Democrats, who vowed to play hardball with the Conservatives if they were to enter into a coalition. Merkel will remain chancellor, although most Germans are eager to see her retire by now. 

But luckily we still have regional elections, like the mayoral election in Frankfurt in two weeks. If the German federal elections were anything like what we the mayoral elections here in Frankfurt, the ratings would be Trump-like almost. 

Frankfurt itself had six parties that gained ten percent during the past federal elections, or close to it: The Conservatives, the left central Social democrats, the right wing AfD, the left wing Linke, The Greens, and the Libertarians. With those choices, you get the feeling that there might actually be a real race in the making somewhere.

The candidates: twelve in all, including all major parties represented and six independents. The incumbent and presumed frontrunner: Peter Feldmann, the Jewish Social Democrat representative, and a Frankfurt native through and through. Feldmann has been the mayor since 2013 now and has taken his fair share of potshots, from the left, right, and his own party. His central themes are affordable housing, the battles against childhood poverty, and fighting noise pollution by planes, among others. 

Equally impressive are the five women running for Lord Mayor of Frankfurt, including three representing established parties like the Conservatives, the Greens, and the Left. When all is said and done, it's very likely that the next lord mayor of Frankfurt, the Alpha city of Germany, might be a woman. 

And then there is the colorful independent, Nico Wehnemann, always good for comic relief, judging from his website. Dr. Wehnemann demands a ban of people, since people happen to be responsible for 99% of all break-ins. Only the illegal narcotics are good narcotics, he claims tongue-in-cheek. And not only does alcohol connect the citizens of Frankfurt, it actually makes this city bearable.

Eat your heart out, federal elections. 

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