The Greens in the German Bundestag are currently embroiled in a scandal during the election campaign. The controversy revolves around alleged harassment claims against a fellow party member. Berlin-based Green Party politician Stefan Gelbhaar has lost his mandate due to the allegations, which he has denied. The election campaign manager for Robert Habeck, Andreas Audretsch, has benefited from Gelbhaar’s departure, moving up to the second spot on the list.
On Friday evening, a significant turn of events occurred: The public broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb) removed parts of its reporting on the alleged harassment claims against Gelbhaar due to emerging doubts. The Welt newspaper reported on the development on the following Sunday.
The rbb initially reported on its website that there were doubts about the identity of a person. “Not all the allegations we reported on are automatically null and void – a crucial accusation, however, is. We have therefore decided to remove all contributions in which specific allegations are made from the internet” the broadcaster stated.
Gelbhaar has been a member of the Bundestag since 2017 and won the direct mandate in the 2021 election. He withdrew his candidacy for the state list of the Berlin Greens for the February Bundestag election in mid-December, citing the allegations against him, without going into detail.
In an interview with the Business Insider, Gelbhaar had already taken a stance in January, stating, “This is a lie. I can prove it.” Several women, some of whom were anonymous or swore an affidavit, claimed to have been harassed by Gelbhaar, according to the rbb.
However, doubts arose about the identity of one of the women, “Anne K.” after she was no longer reachable by the rbb. The broadcaster later stated, “It is now clear that ‘Anne K.’ was not the one she claimed to be. With high probability, this woman does not even exist.” Meanwhile, it was revealed that the person behind “Anne K.” is a local Green Party politician who allegedly fabricated the harassment claims against Gelbhaar and assumed a false identity.
The allegations had severe consequences for Gelbhaar. Before New Year’s, the Pankow district association announced that it would re-vote on the direct candidacy. At the January 8 election meeting, three candidates, including Gelbhaar, ran for the position. In the end, state legislator Julia Schneider won with a clear majority. At the first election meeting in mid-November, Gelbhaar was still named the direct candidate with 98.4% of the votes.
Gelbhaar had already given up his candidacy for the state list due to the allegations, according to the Bild newspaper, and instead allowed Andreas Audretsch from Neukölln to run, as reported by the Zeitung. Audretsch is the election campaign manager for Green Party candidate and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck. The newspaper with four letters believes that the Gelbhaar case could become a “campaign blunder” for the Greens. A digital crisis conference of the former Peace Party is now scheduled, with the local association describing itself as “shaken” and appearing overwhelmed.