Imagine it’s election, but your vote has no meaning. I beg your pardon? Yes, exactly: the election will be repeated in all 12 districts. One could assume that one’s own vote would then also decide on the mayors and city councillors. But she doesn’t.
Because the legislative period officially continues, the district heads of administration can only be voted out of office by a two-thirds majority. The will of the voters on February 12 is not translated into executive politics at all in the districts.
Julius Betschka is the responsible editor for state politics at the Tagesspiegel.
In the districts, it is not coalitions of parties that decide on the appointments to city councils and mayors. The items are distributed according to the number of votes in the D’hondt method. In the case of re-election, this principle is overridden by the fact that deselection is almost impossible. It seems like another prank in a repeat election, which should actually strengthen confidence in democracy.
Three weeks before the election, the CDU came up with an idea to change that. The district heads of administration would therefore be re-elected, but the old incumbents would receive a large part of their salaries until the end of the legislature, as is usual with early elections. This is an elegant solution, but it is probably too late.
The coalition had not simply overlooked this issue. The previous regulation is very convenient for the three parties: SPD, Greens and Left Party together make up all twelve district mayors. The CDU doesn’t have a single one anymore. For the Greens, the icing on the cake is that they provide the most transport councillors.
An example: the rapid conversion of Friedrichstrasse to a pedestrian zone was only possible because the mayor and transport councilor of the Mitte district belong to the Greens and made it possible. Such campaign gifts for traffic senator Bettina Jarasch would not be expected from city councilors of other party colors.
The left argues that in the case of the district heads of administration, civil service law is opposed to the principle of democracy. Translated, this means that the coalition has so far preferred to stand behind its electoral officials than behind effective voting rights for Berliners. The motto: Still a choice? I do not care.
