Berlin mayor played tennis while 5-day blackout froze city, faces resignation calls

Berlin’s Mayor Kai Wegner has been facing calls for resignation for playing tennis while the city’s residents were facing a five-day power outage.

Berlin’s Mayor Kai Wegner has been facing calls for resignation for playing tennis while the city’s residents were facing a five-day power outage as winter shivers the country. On Wednesday, the German public broadcaster reported that after being informed of the blackout on Saturday, Wegner had gone to play tennis with romantic partner Katharina Günther-Wünsch, who is also Berlin’s top education official.

Wegner eventually confirmed the report in an interview with Welt TV. “I played tennis from 1 to 2 pm (local time) because I wanted to clear my head. I was reachable the whole time … my phone was on loud. I went straight back afterwards and continued working,” he told Welt.

However, on Sunday, when Wegner was asked the same question, he offered a different story to local reporters. “I was at home. I literally locked myself in my home office and coordinated things from there,” he averred. It is pertinent to note that Wegner belongs to the conservative CDU party, which governs Berlin in coalition with the Social Democrats. The party has been facing backlash from the opposition over numerous political decisions.

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Tobias Schulze, leader of the far-left Die Linke faction in Berlin’s state parliament, slammed Wegner over his conduct at the time of crisis. “The fact that Kai Wegner chose to go play tennis instead of travelling to the crisis area shows a lack of responsibility and a lack of empathy. Wegner must ask himself whether he has lived up to the responsibility of his office," Schulze told Politico.

The far-right AfD also slammed the mayor. Kristin Brinker, leader of the party’s Berlin parliamentary group, said, “Anyone who prefers leisure time in moments of crisis is in the wrong place. Wegner, you’ve lost this match. Take your hat.”

The Saturday blackout was triggered by an arson attack on an energy cable, which was conducted by the militant far-left Vulkangruppe faction. The outage ended up affecting 45,000 households in the south of Berlin, containing both wealthier residents and vulnerable people.

The below-freezing temperature was detrimental to residents. On Wednesday, authorities confirmed that one woman in the affected area had been found dead in her home. Wegner told Welt that it remains unclear whether the death was linked to the blackout or not.

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The Berlin mayor’s handling of the crisis drew further criticism after a social media video showed an enraged resident upbraiding Wegner over the transfer of care-dependent older residents to a gym. Overall, the Berlin mayor is now being heavily scrutinised over the power outage.