Berlin's governing mayor Kai Wegner announced his withdrawal as CDU top candidate on Friday. The reason is conflicting statements about phone calls with Chancellor Friedrich Merz during the power outage in early January.
The Senate Chancellery stated that Wegner had spoken by phone with Merz on January 4 and had already been in contact with the Federal Chancellery on January 3. The Chancellery contradicted this and stated in a submission to the Berlin Administrative Court that no personal or telephone conversation had taken place during the power outage.
Wegner had said in the RBB Abendschau program on January 5 that he had spoken with the chancellor the previous day. Later corrections by the federal government in May confirmed no phone calls on January 3.
Wegner faced months of criticism partly because of these contradictory statements. He remains in office as governing mayor until a successor is elected. The CDU district chairpersons subsequently nominated Stefan Evers as the new top candidate.
