The leadership of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) in Berlin are due to nominate a new party candidate for mayor on Monday, just two months ahead of elections in the German capital, after the incumbent abandoned his bid for re-election amid a long-running scandal involving a tennis match.
The CDU leadership in the city-state is set to convene on Monday afternoon to formally appoint Finance Senator Stefan Evers to replace Mayor Kai Wegner as its top candidate for the September 20 vote, the party told dpa on Saturday.
Wegner surprisingly abandoned his bid for re-election on Friday, after having governed the German capital in coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) since 2023.
The mayor was forced to admit he played tennis on January 3 as an arson attack left 100,000 residents of the city without electricity during a cold spell, with the blackout lasting several days in some neighbourhoods.
The incident left many residents, opposition parties and his coalition partners furious, but Wegner apologized for his handling of the matter and was selected by party members as the CDU lead candidate for the election with 93% of the vote.
Nevertheless, the scandal has rumbled on and returned to the headlines this week when a report in the Tagesspiegel newspaper on Tuesday alleged that Wegner lied about holding phone calls related to the power cut on the morning of the incident.
The latest polls in Berlin showed the CDU – the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz – in fourth place on just 17%, prompting members to sound the alarm and move against Wegner.
The race remains extremely tight, with The Left leading the way on 20%, one year after it surprisingly finished top in Berlin during the national parliamentary election.
The Greens are on 19% and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on 18%, with the SPD further back on 13%.