Scandal in Hamburg: Mayor accused of
Disqualification by Fired Alderman,
by
LIOW-LB/Enkidu
|
|
|
Ole
von Beust, mayor of Hamburg |
This article in Spanish: Escándalo
en Hamburgo: El Alcalde es Acusado de Descalificación por un
Miembro del Consejo de la Ciudad despedido recientemente,
by
LIOW-LB/Enkidu
On
Tuesday August 19th, Ole von Beust, the mayor of Hamburg
fired his controversial alderman for internal affairs (Innensenator)
Ronald Schill for having threatened to bring intimate details from the
mayor’s private life to the public. According to Schill the mayor is
gay and has a relationship with the alderman for judiciary affairs,
Roger Kusch.
The
crisis started during a discussion between Ole von Beust (CDU – The
Christian Democratic Party) and Ronald Schill (“Schill party”)
about staff matters. The Aldermen Walter Wellinghaus had been accused
of having received income from unauthorized work that he had
maintained next to his duties in the City Council. From several
quarters, his dismissal from all political offices was demanded. Just
the suspicion that a political figure receives unauthorized additional
income, would normally be enough to make him leave the office. Only
Ronald Schill continued to protect the independent politician and
maintain that he should remain in office.
On
a press conference Tuesday morning, von Beust expressed that he has
lost patience with both of them and communicated that he had dismissed
Wellinghaus from all offices. He also said that he would immediately
dismiss Ronald Schill from his office, because he had threatened to
make public details from the mayor’s private life. As expected, it
did not take long before Ronald Schill also called the German press to
his own press conference.
He
informed the press that the mayor is gay and maintains a relationship
to the alderman for judiciary affairs, Roger Kusch (also CDU-delegate).
He mentioned that he knew about several witnesses who had observed
them having sex in the house of the alderman for financial affairs (Finanzsenator).
Schill used the term “Lebenspartner” [life partner], which in
German indicates that a long term permanent relationship exists
between the mayor and Kusch. Therefore, according to Schill, it is
obvious that von Beust had allowed private sentiments and personal
sympathies to influence him when appointing Kusch for his high office
in the City Council. Private and official matters had mixed in an
unacceptable way.
The
reactions in the German Press in the following days were almost
unison. All commentators seemed to agree with the mayor’s decision
to dismiss both Wellinghaus and Schill and that Schill’s reaction
was pathetic and reduced politics in Hamburg to a kindergarten-level.
Many comments also emphasized that the Outing of the mayor may indeed
strengthen his position if he now goes to the public and tells the
truth about his appointment of Kusch, honestly and consistently.
Few people in Hamburg would have anything against a gay mayor,
which was also confirmed in a poll published in the newspaper
Hamburger Morgenpost” on Wednesday. In fact nobody seems to be
interested in the sexual orientation of politicians at all. However, a
mayor who cannot keep official and private business apart, would be
quite a different matter.
Last
year, a similar scandal outraged Hamburg’s population when member of
the city council Mario Mettbach was proven to have hired his
girlfriend, as his personal spokesperson without an objective hiring
process in which also other candidates had been tested for their
qualifications. If the mayor has committed a similar crime, this will
have severe consequences for his future political career. The case
will now be tested before a court, despite the fact that Hamburg now
celebrates Schill’s dismissal. This right wing politician, had
become extremely unpopular among Hamburg’s population in recent
years. On Wednesday, the newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt, wrote that
more than 2000 people had gathered together before a Cultural Center
to celebrate a “Schill-Out” – party on Tuesday evening. There
had been several spontaneous parties and celebrations throughout the
city on this summer night.
The
opposition, however, demanded new elections as soon as possible. The
City Council, on the other hand, states that the recent events will
not influence the successful coalition between the Christian-Democrates,
the Schill Party and the FDP (The Free-Democrats) that has governed
Hamburg since 2001. How successful this coalition really is, has long
been questioned by observers, and the voters, but now the situation
can hardly have improved.
On
Friday (22.08.2003) Roger Kusch says in an interview with Hamburger
Abendblatt, that he has always been openly gay in his private life,
but he feels that his sexual life should not be a public concern.
However, he characterizes Schill’s accusations that he should be the
mayor’s “life partner” and that von Beust therefore had mixed
official and private as totally wrong, Schill’s “free invention
and 100% false”. A statement from von Beust has not yet (23.08.2003)
been published. However, regardless of how the investigation of this
disqualification case ends, a poll in the Hamburger Abendblatt on
Saturday [23.08.2003] morning confirms that an overwhelming majority
of Hamburg’s population regard the mayor as the undisputed victor in
this dirty case. 61% believes that he will have advantages of the
incident and his outing by Schill. His party, the Christian-Democrats
would have had 40% of the votes if there had been elections now, the
survey states. That would mean an increase of 14% from the last
elections in 2001. The Schill party, that had 19,4 of the votes in
2001, would now receive less than 6% of the votes. Similar numbers
have also been published in another survey this week published in the
national newspapers “Bild” and “Welt”. If he succeeds in
convincing the court that he is innocent, von Beust might become one
of the city’s most popular mayors ever.
©
LIOw-LB/ENKIDU * 23.08.2003.
* [Si
desea información sobre la fuente original favor de solicitarla a ENKIDU].
Si
tienes algun comentario, nos gustaría recibirlo. Sólo escribe y
envia. Nos gustaría saber tu nombre y tu correo electrónico,
pero no es obligatorio. Muchas Gracias.
Atte.
Tu
Los
Martes de Enkidu
Febrero 2007
