After Frankfurt Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) was voted out of office, the FDP chose Yanki Pürsün, member of the state parliament, as a candidate for the mayoral election on March 5th. The 50-year-old chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in Frankfurt's Römer got 88.4 percent of the votes on Wednesday, the party announced in the evening after a district meeting.

"I am very happy about the nomination of the members and the clear order to run for the FDP Frankfurt as a mayor candidate," Pürsün is quoted as saying in a statement from the district association. "To run for mayor of my city as a Frankfurter is both an honor and a great challenge."

The controversial OB Feldmann was voted out of office on November 6th in a referendum. The public prosecutor's office accuses him of having accepted donations and other benefits from the Awo. Pürsün had clearly pushed for clarification in the Awo scandal.

Feldmann's previous deputy, Mayor Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg (Greens), will take over the official business until the new election. Other parties have already presented their candidates. The date for a possible runoff election is March 26th.