Potsdam’s mayor wants to promote trust despite the vote-out request

The mayor of Potsdam, Mike Schubert (SPD), wants to seek trust in the city parliament despite a recall process. He refuses to resign. It is always the mayor’s job to recruit new majorities, Schubert told the “Potsdamer Neuesten Nachrichten”. “I will also take advantage of the opportunity now, under admittedly difficult conditions.”

Voting process underway

A few days ago, a cross-party vote-out process against the mayor was initiated in the Potsdam city council. At the end of the process that has just begun, there may be a referendum if Schubert does not accept a vote out of office.

The mayor would also rely on a referendum. He told the newspaper: “The citizens elected me directly. That’s why I would of course support the citizens’ vote.”

The head of the town hall in the state capital wants to remain in office until the new elections in autumn 2026 and continue to work with the city parliament.

Schubert continues to hold talks with city groups

“I announced a concrete offer to the city councilors for talks. “It should be about how we can better discuss fundamental questions with each other and develop a common baseline based on the groups’ programs,” he told the “Potsdamer Neuesten Nachrichten”.

For example, he wants to complete the modernization of the administration and municipal companies as well as digitalization. “I want to complete my service, which I started in 2018, in a sensible manner.”

Criticism of the administration and allegations about the ticket affair

The request for deselection is justified by criticism of Schubert’s administration. He is also partly blamed for a poor working atmosphere in the city administration. Two thirds of the city councilors are voting against the Social Democrats. However, the SPD city group does not support the deselection process. There are nine parliamentary groups in the city parliament. The current political debate is about upcoming budget cuts, as the city has to save millions of euros.

Schubert was also under pressure because of the VIP ticket affair. The public prosecutor’s office had discontinued proceedings against the mayor for accepting free sports and culture tickets. Schubert has to pay 20,000 euros to a charitable organization and 14,046 euros to the state treasury.