Stefan Gelbhaar: Greens in Berlin-Pankow vote out direct candidates | EUROtoday

Six and a half weeks earlier than the federal election, the Greens within the Berlin district of Pankow changed their direct candidate for the constituency of the identical identify. At a gathering on Wednesday night, they determined to ship state consultant Julia Schneider into the race on February twenty third as an alternative of Bundestag member Stefan Gelbhaar. The background to the choice are allegations of harassment in opposition to Gelbhaar, which the politician rejects and describes as a “lie”.

At the election assembly in a packed corridor, three candidates ran, together with Gelbhaar himself. In the top, Schneider prevailed with 74.3 p.c. The politician obtained 269 votes, Gelbhaar 127 and Reginald Grünenberg 7.

In mid-November, Gelbhaar was elected because the Green Party’s direct candidate for Pankow with 98.4 p.c of the vote. He has been sitting within the Bundestag since 2017 and received the direct mandate within the 2021 election. His profession in parliament is about to finish as a result of he isn’t on the state record.

Recently, a number of ladies made allegations of harassment in opposition to the 48-year-old, which Gelbhaar rejected as “fictitious” and which he’s additionally defending himself in opposition to legally. Nevertheless, the Greens have known as for a brand new election assembly within the district. Gelbhaar tried in useless to get the assembly postponed this week.

At the assembly, he mentioned: “There are anonymous false allegations against me. And I also promise you, these will dissolve.” The scenario isn’t simple for him and for the Greens. But we are able to additionally get by means of this collectively. “I ask you to trust me even during this time,” mentioned Gelbhaar.

“It was signaled to me that I did not always behave adequately in my role,” the Bundestag member continued. “Just experiencing this in such common phrases affected me. I need to and I’ll proceed to work on this professionally.” And further: “It strikes me that the presumption of innocence doesn’t appear to use within the political sphere.” That’s why he wants to prove his innocence himself and fight.

The district board had suggested that Gelbhaar waive it

The party’s district executive committee recently suggested that Gelbhaar not run for office because an election campaign with him would involve “nice dangers.” But the politician stuck to it. The state and federal leadership of the Greens supported the district executive’s actions.

Gelbhaar himself made a detailed statement on his website on New Year’s Eve. “The allegations are lies,” he said. The process must be “a partially planned action” with the aim of massively discrediting him and damaging the party. “This is simply criminal.”

When the Berlin Green Party’s state list was drawn up in mid-December, the politician did not take part after the allegations made the rounds. An ombudsman’s office at the Green Party’s federal office is dealing with these allegations. It is independent and not bound by instructions; the process is confidential. It is unclear when results will be available.

According to the police and public prosecutor’s office, there have so far been no complaints against Gelbhaar because of the allegations, which were widely reported in the media. “It is also not being investigated ex officio, since in order to justify an initial suspicion there would have to be some kind of concrete or specific facts. This has not yet been evident from the reporting,” said a spokesman for the Berlin public prosecutor’s office when asked.

Schneider, the new direct candidate of the Pankow Greens, is 34 years old and has been a member of the Berlin House of Representatives since 2021. There she acts as deputy parliamentary group leader and spokesperson for personnel and administration, budget and environmental policy.

In the past few weeks it has only been about the current allegations and no longer about green content, she said when she introduced herself at the election meeting. “I’m running today so that we can focus on what’s important again. I want to do that in a district association where women can feel safe and are heard.”