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Andreas Geisel wants to radiate confidence and show that he has the situation under control. Despite the scenes that so upset political Berlin, despite Corona’s confused skeptics, the roaring right-wing radicals who could be seen around the world on the steps of the German parliament, the Senator from the Interior walks through the Berlin colonnade just 40 hours after the chaos. House of Representatives. As usual, Geisel walks into meeting room 311 on Monday. A loose German flag is hanging there, and Geisel smiles kindly at everyone.
A savage mix of protesters stormed the Reichstag steps at the weekend. A parliament that Geisel’s job was to protect. Extremely annoying and bad scenes, how to get rid of it? For days or weeks, the interior senator from Berlin will have to hear the same from his SPD. That the mob should never have been admitted to the federal parliament, that international damage had been done. After the polls, the “New York Times” wrote that “far-right Germans” attempted to storm the Reichstag after “escalating virus protests.”
In today’s political climate, no one’s future is safe
And yet. Andreas Geisel is sure that he will survive these weeks. And he plans to continue to have significant influence in the city after the next election. Because Andreas Geisel, 54, is one of the few Social Democrats who can be expected to consider himself indispensable.
Indispensable? In today’s political climate, no one’s future is secure.
The Berlin SPD is currently reorganizing. Franziska Giffey walks through the city and looks for her staff to finally say in autumn what not only the Social Democrats hope in Berlin: that she, the Minister of Family, will leave federal politics to defend the Red City Hall for the Berlin elections of 2021 Is Andreas Geisel there then?
In August, Giffey attended the police academy in Spandau. What does a family minister do among police officers? “I think it’s very important,” Giffey said, “that we are in a very close dialogue with the police.” A sign that the interior senator was pleased. But Geisel knows that with the Reichstag scenes he is politically responsible for one more mishap among other mishaps.
In recent months there has been a dispute inside and outside their red-red-green coalition: about Berlin officials with far-right contacts, about a series of fires in Neukölln that has not been clarified despite all the obvious statements, about a dispute over the lack of protective masks, about the situation in the disputed Rigaer Straße and the consequences of the so-called shooting range affair.
Can the new Senate pay the old senator?
The question that Giffey will ask himself, the question that also worries Andreas Geisel, despite all the confidence shown: Can the SPD rely on the senator from the interior in the election campaign without accepting the stable smell of the last inglorious months? Can a new Senate afford the old senator?
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Dark blue suit, white shirt, collar more open than others. In addition to the 1.90 meter tall men’s uniform, there is now a protective mask, often in bold colors. It was easy, almost leisurely, for Geisel to climb the stairs. He studied economics in the GDR and immediately after the fall of the Wall, the son of a GDR postal worker who had left the SED joined the SPD. The entry into the Bundestag failed, the party appointed him mayor of Lichtenberg in 2011.
Geisel lives there in Karlshorst with his wife and daughters. It is not far from the FC Union stadium. Geisel is the senator, who is also responsible for sports, and an avowed fan of the Union, which should not facilitate the resolution of the dispute with Hertha BSC about the extensions of the Olympic Stadium in Charlottenburg.
A rock in a coalition of pebbles.
This has benefited its reputation as a solid factor of stability between liberality and law and order, like a stone in a coalition of pebbles. Geisel knows his image, gives him confidence. Camera-Effective has declared the fight against so-called clan crime and has set up mobile guards in selected locations. He promoted prestigious projects that earned him praise from all parties. Geisel had a multilingual team of investigators established after the stabbing at Alexanderplatz.
But all this could vanish in the election campaign. And that’s not just about the Reichstag scenes. In the midst of the crown crisis, the Interior Senator was remarkably quiet for weeks until he led an anti-American dispute over the media over the lack of protective masks in April, during which Senate Chief Michael Müller almost He apologized. But above all there is the series of fires in Neukölln, which has not been clarified for years. The cars of compromised Neukölln residents were set on fire dozens of times and the walls were stained with far-right threats. The State Criminal Police Office has been investigating for years, most recently with a special commission. There are two or three known suspects, but nothing else.
Much darkens your image
A few weeks ago it emerged that a police officer deployed to the so-called Neukölln compound allegedly beat an Afghan. The officer is currently on trial. Only a few days later it emerged that unsubstantiated data on Idil Baydar had been requested from a police computer in Berlin, and shortly thereafter the artist received a threatening letter from “NSU 2.0”. All of this overshadows his image.
Geisel’s superior, Senate President Michael Müller, is suspicious of the fight for his successor, especially since the seat he was hoping for in the Bundestag is not secure. On the work of his interior senator last weekend, Müller said on ARD: “We have to coordinate this differently.” Despite the chaotic situation throughout the city center, “of course, security must be different in the future, there is no question.”
There is concern that it is not in control of the authorities
Geisel tried to ignore Müller’s comment. Before Tuesday’s round, in which the Senate meets every week, the interior senator was confident as always. And yet: the black, white and red flags of the mafia in the Reichstag, the accusation of too lax controls, generally the fear of not having the authorities under control: Geisel has to do something if she wants to save her reputation during the next year.
In view of the Neukölln fires, dubious officials and threats from right-wing extremists, the Left Party is calling for a commission of inquiry into the Neukölln compound. That would end the current legislative term, so, including the usual Christmas break, he would hardly have enough time. But Geisel might take the idea as an occasion: If pressure increases on the State Criminal Police Bureau, it probably won’t help its reputation among police officers. The mood of the 22,000 Berlin police officers cannot be indifferent to you. Depending on how they do their job, that has a significant impact on the city environment and polls as well.
Even the police union is helping him
But first of all, officials are also amazed by the fires in Neukölln, by the fact that after so long no one seems to have been caught. And second, if the senator cracks down, it should help his reputation: Law and order, from the left. The powerful police union already helped Geisel indirectly when it warned on Tuesday that right-wing extremists would become more influential in the crown skeptics’ protest movement.
Andreas Geisel, it is said from Senate circles, takes everything seriously. Therefore, he knows that many trust him to combine safety and urban liberality, at least as a credible story. He can?
“It is one of the best that the SPD has”
Called critical, the leftist who repeatedly fought with the SPD man. “Sure, the Reichstag breakdown needs to be cleared up,” says Elke Breitenbach. But also: “Andreas Geisel is a coalition partner I can talk to and who I can trust.” In 2019, Social Affairs senator Breitenbach had argued with Geisel for months about the deportation practice in Berlin, the left-wing politician was under pressure within the party, but not in front of the SPD. buckle up, which required more cops. Benedikt Lux, the interior expert for the Greens, sees the fact that he is still a hostage, and should remain in 2021 as well: “He is one of the best the SPD has.”
So what matters to Franziska Giffey. Your electoral campaign, your shadow cabinet. Neither Giffey nor Geisel are open about their plans. However, internally it is known that the top candidate has nowhere to take her team: in all parts of the country, Social Democrats with charisma and experience are rare. Most of the SPD’s candidates for a possible state government in the next legislative term will have to be recruited in Berlin by Giffey. And the selection is clear here too.
Your future depends not only on the SPD
The hapless Michael Müller tries it out in the Bundestag, and Sandra Scheeres and Dilek Kalayci, the Education and Health senators, announced that they will be halted in 2021, although Giffey would not have taken them anyway.
The fact that the hostage remains is not only due to the status of the SPD itself, but also to the strength of the Greens. Müller had repeatedly argued with Education Senator Scheeres and recently, more violently, with the Kalayci requested in the pandemic. They are both colleagues from the SPD, whom Müller could have fired immediately. He did not do that because the Greens could seize any occasion to break up the coalition and allow new elections to take place. In a poll in July, the SPD was 16 percent, the Greens 19 percent.
What is Franziska Giffey going to do with him?
What is Andreas Geisel doing now? On Tuesday he spoke in favor of the difficulties in the Senate. So the coalition decided that in the future there will be a mask requirement for public gatherings of 100 or more participants. The interior senator had demanded that after the chaos of the weekend, he also go on the offensive. On demand, Geisel becomes more fundamental: “Apart from all the current events, we must not forget the big lines.”
There it is, the confidence that, given the fragile majorities, no one will be able to snatch it away in the short term. Federal Minister Giffey is not making public statements about her possible senator these days. In a small circle of ambitious SPD folks, though, it’s clear: if she helps make images forget, Geisel is likely there.
But first of all, the senator can’t get rid of the weekend scenes. The Berlin Interior Committee meets again next week. In Room 311 of the House of Representatives, it should be about the Reichstag stairs failure.
