Scandal at the Greens in Frankfurt: chairman is assaulting
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fromGeorg Leppert
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The Frankfurt Greens win every election – and constantly cause a stir with internal debates. Now there is also a scandal surrounding the chairman.
Frankfurt – At least for one night it seems as if the Frankfurt Greens are completely at peace with themselves. At the party after the general election in the cool club called the Montez family, it was close to midnight, many danced, everyone drank beer or wine, and most of the party members seemed happy. The Greens had once again become the strongest force in Frankfurt, for the fourth time in a row, Omid Nouripour had finally won his direct mandate, Deborah Düring had moved into the Bundestag via the state list – and that it could have been a few percentage points more nationwide was too interesting later no one in the Montez. Daniel Frank, at that time still spokesman for the board of the Frankfurt Greens, seemed happy all round.
It should have happened after this party that the 37-year-old showed “cross-border behavior towards party members in the form of inappropriate touching and expressing”, which has now cost him the office. Julia Frank, who was elected to the top of the Board of Management together with Daniel Frank in June, does not say much more than what is abstract in the press release. The two are not related, but they have worked together in the last few weeks, as far as that can be judged from the outside. This is ending now. Daniel Frank resigns from his post, and Julia Frank speaks of an “absolutely unpleasant situation” at the request of the FR.
Greens in Frankfurt have been winning one election after the next for three years
You could say that – in two ways. On the one hand, Julia Frank is now alone at the head of the Greens until the next general meeting in December. But that would be manageable. There are good staff in the party who are eligible for the post – above all Christoph Rosenbaum, a freelance and talented newcomer, Daniel of the city council, who lost to Frank in the election.
What is worse, however, is that the Frankfurt Greens simply cannot calm down. For three years the party has been winning one election after the other in Frankfurt. The Greens became the strongest force in the state, European, local and now federal elections. But with the success apparently came the problems. The Greens argue on the open stage, offer the political opponent points of attack and now also have to cope with the Frank case. It has absolutely nothing to do with internal party friction, which is primarily an expression of a dispute over direction. But the allegations against the board spokesman, which Daniel Frank publicly admits with astonishing frankness, fall into the category: “We were just missing that.”
Greens in Frankfurt: That’s why the party often crunches
If you want to understand why the Greens often crunch, you have to look back at the beginning of 2019. The Greens had just won the state election in Frankfurt, and the Roman parliamentary group leader Manuel Stock suddenly moved to Wiesbaden. There he heads the office of Science Minister Angela Dorn, under which he does so in a way that also distinguished him as the parliamentary group chairman: calm, confident and careful to resolve conflicts internally.
In Frankfurt, Stock left a vacuum that was completely insufficiently filled. There was an election for the parliamentary group executive committee, which happened for the first time, which should run like a thread through the current decisions of the coming years: The ideas of the executive committee from the base – in this case the parliamentary group base – not approved.
Greens in Frankfurt: Fridays for Future
At that time, the district chairwoman Beatrix Baumann wanted to form the head of the parliamentary group together with the experienced city councilor Ursula auf der Heide. But the Greens chose the duo Sebastian Popp and Jessica Purkhardt. A wrong decision. Purkhardt, who was supposed to be the “face of the parliamentary group”, almost completely disappeared, Popp seemed completely overwhelmed. And so the group of the Greens gave a strange picture for months. In order not to endanger the long-divided coalition with the CDU and SPD, she even votes against a motion by the left to extend the closure of the Main Quay. At the same time, it was publicly announced that the opening was considered fundamentally wrong.
Nevertheless: The Greens remained successful and achieved the best result in their history in the European elections in Frankfurt. The positive results gave many people from the environment of the Fridays for Future movement the feeling that they could make a difference with the Greens. The number of members grew rapidly.
Greens in Frankfurt do not follow any board
This changed the structure of the party. What was once considered set and the highest in the district groups was critically discussed, was – of course, absolutely publicly – questioned. For example the development of the Günthersburghöfe, a showcase project of the former planning officer Olaf Cunitz (Greens). A single session is enough to overturn the plans developed over years of detailed work. Cunitz and Stock also wondered what was going on in their party. And Bastian Bergerhoff, the never to be disturbed board member at the time, tried to limit the damage. That’s how internal party democracy works, he said.
That’s correct. But for the Greens, internal party democracy meant not following the board of directors. Experienced people like Baumann and Uli Baier ended up at the back of the list when drawing up the lists for the local elections, and when the board proposed after the local election to work temporarily with three men and two women in the full-time magistrate, the idea really flew into his ears. A violation of the women’s statute is unthinkable with the Greens.
Greens in Frankfurt: City Parents’ Advisory Council Julia Frank has to unite the party
After all: the long-established forces like Bergerhoff, Environment Director Rosemarie Heilig and Health Director Stefan Majer were able to prevent the Greens from being pushed into a left-wing alliance, which many new members had demanded. For the established ones among the Greens, who had good experiences in working with the CDU, a partnership with the left that was unrealistic would have been greater. A compromise was agreed: a coalition with the SPD, FDP and Volt. The CDU, on the other hand, played no role at all in the Greens’ deliberations, a partnership could not have been conveyed to the new base.
Still rumors continue. The part of the district association that describes itself as progressive and would have preferred a cooperation with the left puts pressure in many places and demands, for example, solidarity with the occupiers: inside the Devil’s Break. No sooner was the Roman parliamentary group even remotely expressed about dying than the Greens received a rebuke from the coalition partner FDP. Their city councilor Uwe Schulz, who cannot go into anything with left-wing ideas, demanded that the occupation be ended immediately.
Julia Frank, a woman who is as friendly as she is obliging and resolute, will die – how could it be otherwise – came into office through a candidate for a fight, the party WILL now die for a while. There is hardly anything more inconvenient for her than a scandal over harassment by her co-chairmen. (Georg Leppert)