Eddy about parking plaque: White gives up the chairmanship of the Hanau-U committee

The SPD faction deputy in the Hessian state parliament, Marius Weiß, draws consequences from the "parking sticker affair". He is resigning from his position as chairman of the Hanau investigative committee. Weiß wants to send a signal of credibility - shortly before the nomination for the state elections.

"As a person, I made a mistake that I deeply regret," writes Marius Weiß on Tuesday in a statement that is available to hr. He does not specifically address the allegations. "I'm so sorry for that mistake." Worse than the legal accusation is the disappointed trust of people inside and outside the SPD. "I'm asking for a chance to regain lost trust."

 Alongside these lines of apology, Weiß opted to resign from the chair of the Hanau investigative committee. The panel is on the home stretch to investigate possible official failures surrounding the racist murders of February 19, 2020.

Marius Weiß on Tuesday at the Hessentag in Pfungstadt. Image © hessenschau.de

White: It's about credibility 

 "The committee is about the legitimate expectations of relatives of a culture of error in politics and of taking on political responsibility," said Weiß. "It is not credible for me to continue to exercise the presidency if I do not practice this assumption of responsibility for mistakes myself."

 The affair was not noticeable to Weiss in the committee, as even the political opponent reports. White is held in high esteem by the families of the victims. The meetings should not be "impaired by a discussion about my person," emphasizes Weiß. The 48-year-old wants to continue as a member of the Hessian state parliament.

White is said to have copied the parking sticker

 What happened? Weiss' wife, who works for the SPD parliamentary group, is said to have used a counterfeit parking sticker from the state parliament, according to the suspicion of the public prosecutor. The investigations against Weiß for forging documents became known at the end of March.
 sources -https://www.hessenschau.de

 All in all no trifle. Weiss' request for an apology comes just in time before the southern Hesse SPD closes its list of candidates for the state elections on October 8th. On Wednesday, the names will be tied down at the district board meeting in Frankfurt. The entire staff tableau will be decided at the state party conference on June 17 in Hanau. There, however, Weiß' explanation must first be convincing.

Weiß is dependent on the SPD state list, since 2008 he has only been able to get into the state parliament through them. In his Rheingau-Taunus II constituency, Weiß repeatedly lost to the CDU politician and Minister of the Interior, Peter Beuth. Even if he doesn't start again, the CDU is the favorite in the region.

Duplicate of the premium badge

 Parking spaces around the state parliament in downtown Wiesbaden are a rare commodity. The underground car park at the Stadtschloss is not sufficient to offer all MPs, speakers and employees a parking space - especially not on days with plenary sessions with a full house. Therefore, there is a kind of premium badge for elected MPs: hexagonal and purple. It entitles you to drive in every day.

White must have made a copy of his MP parking permit and laminated it neatly. The duplicate was found by a camera scan at the state parliament gate: the same ID number was registered there twice.

Setback in the primary campaign

 For the SPD parliamentary group, history could hardly have turned out worse. The CDU and the Greens never tired of demanding explanations from the SPD state leader, top candidate and Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. The coalition hopes to turn the Weiss affair into a Faeser affair. Faeser, however, remained staunchly silent when asked several times.

 The affected white - like Faeser also a lawyer - was also silent, possibly too long. He always referred to the ongoing proceedings at the public prosecutor's office. Even in their own ranks, the comrades were getting impatient: What's the point of the accusation? Why does a representative of the people have to copy a parking sticker? White always wanted to protect his wife, it said.

Meanwhile, the public prosecutor's office continues to investigate. Weiss hopes that the proceedings there will be completed shortly and without charges being filed and thus without a public hearing: "I have signaled to the public prosecutor that I am ready to end the proceedings by mutual consent."

 praise and criticism

 The chairman of the SPD district of Hessen-Süd, Kaweeh Mansoori, acknowledged Weiß' statement: "His apology is credible." And he campaigned for the affair to be classified appropriately: "In the end, it's also about putting the degree of a one-time misconduct in relation to a person's overall work." Weiss has done a lot, so the SPD will give him the opportunity to restore the trust that has been lost.

Jürgen Frömmrich, the parliamentary secretary of the Greens in the state parliament, paid tribute to Weiß on Tuesday for his resignation from the chairmanship of the committee of inquiry. "However, we would have expected the SPD MP to speak up earlier and explain his behavior," added Frömmrich. White has lost the trust of many citizens.

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48-year-old German parliamentarian resigned over parking plaque