Uwe Rückert is planning a citizens' initiative against Altenburg's Mayor Neumann!

Uwe Rückert, the former politician who has changed various parties during his career, is planning to put himself into play as the new mayor of Altenburg. Rückert, who originally comes from the CDU, switched over the years to the AfD, then to the Free Voters and finally to the Alliance Germany. His attempt to become district administrator of the Altenburger Land in 2024 failed because he ended up behind the left-wing candidate Frank Tempel. Previous mayoral candidacies in Meuselwitz and Schmölln were also unsuccessful for Rückert. He also failed in 2019 because election documents were submitted too late when he wanted to enter the state parliament for the AfD.

Rückert, who originally no longer wanted to be active in local politics in 2024, has now floated the idea of ​​a citizens' initiative to vote out the incumbent mayor André Neumann (CDU). The reason for this project are Neumann's statements on social media and different political views regarding city decisions. In order to carry out the citizens' initiative, Rückert is dependent on the support of the population eligible to vote; he must collect 8,834 signatures within four months and compete against Neumann's official confirmation.

Citizens' petition to vote out André Neumann

The application for the citizens' petition will be examined by the city's legal office. Rückert, who is talking about himself as a possible mayoral candidate, sees Neumann criticized for his treatment of certain parts of the city's population and for alleged bends of the law in connection with Corona rules. He also accuses the mayor of being unworthy of criticism. André Neumann has not yet responded to the allegations and has waited until the legal office's review has been completed.

The task will be challenging for Rückert, as he will have to collect a significant amount of signatures for the approval of the citizens' initiative in order to obtain an election review by the mayor. The number of Altenburgers eligible to vote has an influence on the required signatures, which must include 35 percent of those eligible to vote, due to deaths, birthdays and people moving in and out. In the last mayoral election, 25,239 people were eligible to vote in Altenburg.