Berlin Mayor Drops Reelection Bid After Blackout Row

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner will not run in the September election after failing to overcome criticism over his decision to play tennis during a major power outage in the German capital in January.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician said he could no longer effectively present his policies to voters after losing public trust.

“The communication was rubbish… and believe me, I am more annoyed about this than anyone else”, he said, adding that his withdrawal would help prevent further weakening of the CDU ahead of the election.

The outage, caused by an arson attack, affected about 45,000 households and more than 2,000 businesses, lasting nearly a week during a severe cold spell. Wegner initially claimed he had coordinated the crisis response around the clock from his home office, but later acknowledged that he had spent about an hour playing tennis with his partner, Berlin Education Minister Katharina Günther-Wünsch, shortly after the blackout began.

He later acknowledged that his description of the events had been misleading, saying he had played tennis only to take a short break. The scandal, dubbed “tennis-gate”, prompted intense criticism and growing pressure for him to step down. According to the latest polls, the CDU has fallen to fourth place in Berlin. Finance Senator Stefan Evers is expected to replace him.

(Guardian, bak)