„Linke Clan-Bürgermeisterin“: Antrag der Berliner Linken gegen Hagel vor Gericht erfolglos

After the victory of the Left party in Berlin, baden-württemberg's Interior Minister Manuel Hagel (CDU) offered a Berlin police officer a chance to transfer to the southwest - and dubbed the Left's top candidate, Elif Eralp, as "left clan mayor." A petition by the Left for a stay on these remarks was recently rejected by the Administrative Court of Stuttgart.

The court's justification states that Hagel's statements were not official declarations in his capacity as Interior Minister, subject to the rules of relevance and neutrality. They were rather general political and fall within the scope of freedom of expression. Hagel did not speak in his role as Interior Minister but as a party politician.

The position of Interior Minister does not preclude speaking as a specialist on police or other domestic issues. Simply mentioning the police in general is not enough to establish a specific official reference. An appeal against the court's decision can be filed within two weeks after its announcement at the Baden-Württemberg Administrative Court.

In response to the court's decision, Hagel said, "The Stuttgart Administrative Court has spoken correctly. What matters most to me is my work for our country. That is what I concentrate on and devote my energy to, every day." He referred to Eralp as "left clan mayor." After the Left party's victory in the Berlin election on September 20th, they planned to form a coalition with the Greens and SPD and have Eralp as the elected mayor.

The Left had announced in their election program to put a stop to the "re-armament" of the police and redistribute funds, for instance, towards street social work.