Berlin gets its first female mayor

Franziska Giffey becomes the first female mayor of the German capital Berlin. The Washington Post reported.

Giffey’s victory comes as the Christian Democrats’ Union (CDU), the party of current Chancellor Angela Merkel, was narrowly defeated by the center-left Social Democratic Party for the first time in a decade following the country’s preliminary election results.

Merkel will step down as German head of state after 16 years.

Giffey is to replace her social democratic compatriot Michael Müller, who does not want to be re-elected as Berlin mayor after seven years.

Giffey said that as mayor, she wants to focus on the city’s economy, education and sustainability.

“We made an unprecedented race to catch up. We did it together. the @spdde has received a clear government mandate in the federal government, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and in Berlin, â€said Giffey in a tweet on Monday. “Thanks very much!”

We have made an unprecedented race to catch up. We did it together. die @spdde has received a clear government mandate in the federal government, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and in Berlin. Thank you very much!

– Franziska Giffey (@FranziskaGiffey) September 27, 2021

Giffey resigned from her position as federal minister for family affairs in May, alleging she plagiarized her doctoral thesis in 2010.

Freie Universität Berlin, the school Giffey attended, conducted an investigation that found it incorrectly mapped information from authors cited in her doctoral thesis and some content was found in other papers, the Post reported.

In response, the Giffey University Board of Directors withdrew her doctorate one month after the allegations surfaced.

Giffey, who entered politics at the age of 29, previously worked as a European commissioner for the Neukölln district and city councilor for education, school, culture and sport, according to Swiss Post.

Although Giffey is the first woman to be elected mayor after the reunification of Berlin, another woman, Louise Schroeder, was mayor of West Berlin from 1949 to 1951.