Berlin mayor Kai Wegner drops re-election bid after blackout backlash

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said on July 10 that he will not seek re-election in September.

The outage began on January 3 after arson on high-voltage cables in Berlin’s south-west. Power was not fully restored until January 7, and it was the city’s longest postwar blackout and its longest since 1945. The shutdown hit Steglitz-Zehlendorf, including Lichterfelde, Nikolassee, Wannsee and Zehlendorf, and prompted emergency measures for residents coping without heat or electricity during a harsh winter. Berlin’s Senate later set up an expert commission to review critical infrastructure protection and emergency preparedness.

Federal prosecutors opened a terrorism-related investigation into the attack, citing sabotage and arson among possible crimes. Federal prosecutors linked the online claim to a far-left group calling itself Vulkangruppe, or Volcano Group. The fire destroyed several thick power lines at the foot of two electricity pylons in Berlin-Johannisthal, in Treptow-Köpenick.

He was faulted for being at home rather than heading to the office or the hardest-hit neighborhoods, and call logs later showed no official calls before 12:45 p.m. on January 3, undercutting his earlier claim that he had been working the phones throughout the crisis. He later acknowledged making communication mistakes over the blackout, and his decision to go play tennis in the early hours only deepened the backlash.

A July 1 Infratest dimap poll put Die Linke first in Berlin at 20%, the Greens at 19%, the AfD at 18% and the CDU at 17%. Dissatisfaction with the current Senate was about 78%. Wegner said he was withdrawing partly to help block a left-wing alliance led by Die Linke, while Berlin SPD lead candidate Steffen Krach, selected before Wegner’s exit, has already ruled out cooperating with him after the vote.

Wegner will remain in office until a new coalition is formed after the September 20 election.