
According to information from the Tagesspiegel, the SPD parliamentary group in Berlin-Mitte expects the resignation of district mayor Stephan von Dassel (Greens). Internally, the parliamentary group is said to have already agreed that von Dassel is no longer tenable.
The reason for this is the post affair about a party confidante of the district mayor: Von Dassel, as a private individual, offered money to a competitor for a high administrative position in the district office so that he could withdraw his competitor’s lawsuit. In the end, the deal didn’t materialize because von Dassel, by his own admission, recognized his behavior as a mistake. Stephan von Dassel did not respond to a request about the SPD’s position late on Sunday evening.
According to information from the Tagesspiegel, the district mayor no longer has any support from his own parliamentary group either. After there was no quorum at a meeting with von Dassel on Saturday, the Greens scheduled another meeting for Monday.
According to internal information, Dassel should make a face-saving departure possible, which limits the damage to the party. A deselection of the district mayor by the district councilors should be avoided as far as possible.
According to reports, the party and parliamentary group in the district are already discussing who could replace Dassel’s Greens in office. For example, the former administrative judge Almut Neumann, who has only been a city councilor for order, the environment, nature and roads since November, is mentioned. In addition, Stefanie Remlinger, City Councilor for Education and Culture, is mentioned, who was deputy parliamentary group member in the House of Representatives for ten years until 2021.
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The leader of the Green Group, Tarek Massalme, contradicted this statement on Twitter in the evening. There is no discussion of Dassel’s resignation or a successor. “Anyone who puts such speculation into the world has no interest in clarifying the facts,” wrote the Green politician.
The parliamentary group leaders Lela Sisauri and Tarek Massalme wrote to the Tagesspiegel on request: “We take the issue and the allegations very seriously. We are currently in the process within the party to enable full transparency and clarification.”