German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hit the campaign trail on Monday in a Berlin mayoral election marked by concerns over violence and integration.
Ugly scenes on December 31 including attacks on police and buses led to fingers being pointed at Arab and Turkish communities, and piled pressure on Berlin’s left-wing mayor Franziska Giffey.
The conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) caused an outcry by demanding to know the first names of Germans arrested, implying these would reveal a migrant background.
Ms Giffey then rebuked the CDU's national leader Friedrich Merz after he described children of immigrants as disrespectful "little pashas".
But the CDU and its Berlin candidate Kai Wegner now lead polls for Sunday's election, as they portray Berlin as a city descending into chaos.
“The violence on our streets against the police and fire brigade occurs every day, 365 days a year. New Year’s Eve was a sad and brutal high point,” Mr Wegner said.
“When people in hoods ambush firefighters and brutally attack them with iron bars, that does not call for an outstretched hand but a prison cell.”
Regional elections are also seen as a test of the German government’s support, with Mr Scholz — a member of the Social Democrats (SPD) like Ms Giffey — under pressure over his handling of the war in Ukraine.
He entered the campaign on Monday with a joint appearance with Ms Giffey at a science lab in Berlin belonging to German chemicals giant Bayer.
The SDP have promised more police at a notorious hotspot for Berlin criminals and drug dealers, and accused the CDU of talking Berlin down.
Mr Scholz’s government meanwhile called an immigration summit amid concerns that refugee and asylum facilities are becoming overcrowded.
“Many cities and local authorities are at their limit, but are doing outstanding work,” Mr Scholz’s integration commissioner Reem Alabali-Radovan said on Monday.
She earlier scolded the Berlin CDU by saying the perpetrators on New Year’s Eve should be “judged by their actions, not by their first names”.
A separate report last month found that Muslims in Germany were particularly vulnerable to discrimination based on their name and appearance.
The CDU, the main opposition in Germany and Berlin, is predicted to top the poll in Sunday’s election. Coalition talks will then follow to form a majority in Berlin’s House of Representatives.
The vote is a rerun of a September 2021 election that was declared null and void because of problems at polling stations. The CDU has seized on the fiasco as another sign of chaos at city hall.
Mr Scholz won the German general election on the same day in 2021 but that vote is only being rerun in a few parishes.
A postal strike could cause further procedural headaches this time, with people being urged to send their ballots early.
If Ms Giffey loses, there is speculation that Mr Scholz could appoint her to a cabinet post. She previously served as families minister under Angela Merkel’s government.
