Berlin & Brandenburg: Cottbus elects a new city leader
Berlin & Brandenburg
Cottbus elects a new city leader
9/11/2022 2:33 am
Cottbus (dpa / bb) – A new city leader will be elected in Cottbus this Sunday. Around 79,000 residents are called upon to decide who will be in charge of the city undergoing structural change for the next eight years. Six candidates and one candidate go into the race: Thomas Bergner (CDU), Tobias Schick (SPD), Lars Schieske (AfD), Sven Benken (Our Cottbus), Lysann Kobbe (Die Basis), Felix Sicker (FDP) and Johann Staudinger ( individual applicants).
The election in the second largest city in Brandenburg with almost 100,000 inhabitants is eagerly awaited. In the local and state elections in 2019, the AfD emerged as the strongest force, and the two AfD candidates won direct mandates in the state elections. In the 2021 federal election, the mandate will go to the SPD, with the AfD behind it. In Germany there is currently no mayor who is represented by the AfD. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution affected the AfD Brandenburg in 2020 as a suspected right-wing extremist.
According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Cottbus is a focus of right-wing extremism in Brandenburg. The previous incumbent, Holger Kelch (CDU), will not stand again in the election for health reasons. Polling stations open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The provisional final result is expected around 9:00 p.m.