Delivered as Ordered – The Gommern Scandal and the End of Local Reliability

Gommern is located in Saxony-Anhalt, about 20 kilometers southeast of Magdeburg – a town of roughly 11,000 residents, nestled between the Elbe meadows, farmland, and small businesses. Politically, the unified municipality was long considered pragmatic and consensus-oriented. But what occurred on June 4, 2025, in the town council has profoundly shaken confidence in the local decision-making structure. With the votes of the CDU and the AfD, the construction of a photovoltaic installation in the Karith district was blocked – and with it, not only a local energy project was halted, but a practice lived for over twenty years was broken: that the city council aligns itself with the vote of the village councils, who act on behalf of their residents. The village council of Karith/Pöthen had voted 4 to 2 in favor of the project, after months of planning, citizen involvement, and careful weighing of pros and cons. But all of that was swept aside in an instant.

CDU faction leader Matthias Fickel justified the reversal unexpectedly: his group wanted to first define “guardrails” – a term that had not previously appeared in any committee meeting. As recently as May 20, Fickel had still approved the project in the construction committee – citing the clear vote from the village council. Now came the no – and with it, a double breach of trust: toward the local councils and toward the public, who count on a minimum level of political reliability. The consequences are significant. According to the city administration, Gommern will lose up to 500,000 euros annually as a result of the rejection – through the participation and acceptance law and from business tax revenue. But the political damage weighs even heavier. Mayor Jens Hünerbein expressed his dismay: “The village councils will have to prepare for the fact that general political trust will no longer be present.” Others were equally clear: “This is not a positive development,” said Frank Krehan (FWGLG), mayor of Leitzkau. Even CDU council chair Margrit Peters admitted to having “a stomachache” – and abstained from the vote.

In the end, twelve city council members from the CDU and AfD voted against the project, eleven voted in favor, and two abstained. That was enough to bring down a locally legitimized initiative. For many, this was a breaking point. Mario Langer from The Left put it bluntly: “Then the city council might as well decide what happens in our village. What you are doing here is not right.” The political context is clear: in the municipal election of June 9, 2024, the CDU maintained its position as the strongest party, the AfD nearly doubled its 2019 result with 23.93 percent and now holds seven seats in the council. SPD, FDP, and the Free Voter Association Leitzkau-Gommern lost seats. The Left remained at around 5 percent, the Greens hold one seat.

In this constellation, a pattern emerges that extends beyond Gommern: when arithmetic suffices for power, political culture becomes a bargaining chip. The break with the village councils is therefore more than an isolated case – it is a symptom of a political shift in which participation is replaced by tactics. The message to the villages is clear: you may speak, but we will decide. Yet in the end, as Gommern now painfully shows, democracy begins exactly where one stops playing power against trust.