Landtag: Niedersächsischer SPD-Fraktionschef Politze tritt zurück

Stefan Politze, the chairman of the Niedersächsischer SPD-Landtagsfraktion, has announced his resignation in an extraordinary session held in the evening. The SPD faction shared this decision with the public. On Wednesday, the Landtag in Hannover had lifted the immunity of a certain SPD politician, which has cast a shadow over Politze's position.

According to a faction bulletin, Politze stated that the removal of immunity and the reporting about it over recent days have put his office under pressure. Despite his firm conviction of his innocence, Politze acknowledges the strain this puts on the party, the faction, and himself. The investigations into Politze are connected to the accusations against another SPD faction leader, Steffen Krach.

His lawyer, Matthias Waldraff, confirmed to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur that the connection to these investigations is clear. Politze's lawyer stated that his client cannot imagine himself being involved in a legally relevant act, i.e., committing a crime. This is significant as the suspicion against Politze is that he provided assistance in anti-competitive agreements, which assumes the presence of a main offense.

Politze insists on his innocence. An ongoing debate, in his view, would make it impossible for the political work of the faction, so he decided to assume political responsibility and resign from his position out of responsibility for the faction. After the immunity was lifted due to the investigations, Politze said he was unaware of the reasons at the moment.

He pledged to cooperate fully and make all requested documents available. "I currently have nothing to accuse myself of," he said.