Dismissal scandal shocks Hesse: Messari-Becker under heavy pressure!

Dismissal scandal shocks Hesse: Messari-Becker under heavy pressure!

There is a lot of simmering in Hesse: the dismissal of Lamia Messari-Becker, the former state secretary in the Ministry of Economics, is causing a stir and sometimes heated debates. Kaweh Mansoori, Hesse's SPD economics minister, reported in a committee of inquiry that a dispute between Messari-Becker and a state secretary from Baden-Württemberg at a fireside chat in May 2022 is said to have had a serious influence on the Hessian position. According to a witness, a head of department in the ministry, Messari-Becker presented her arguments “very briskly” and this led to a blockade. Particularly explosive: In this heated situation, the ex-state secretary said that she was “able to understand German texts correctly,” which caused a stunned silence among the 35 or so people present. In this context, it became clear that Mansoori had fired Messari-Becker in July 2024 due to “unacceptable misconduct”, but without going into details. The allegations against her include, among other things, the abuse of her position in order to obtain a better high school grade for her daughter. Messari-Becker vehemently contradicts these allegations.

But the situation is even more complex. The school principal, who appeared as a key witness in the investigative committee, made serious allegations against Messari-Becker and spoke of character assassination and slander. At the same time, he regretted the circumstances of her dismissal and emphasized that he had never spoken of misconduct or demanded consequences. He admitted that he felt pressured to improve a grade in the parent-teacher meeting and that the circumstances were strange, particularly the direct phone calls between his office manager and the ministry. During the committee meeting, this point led to a testy exchange between the school principal and FDP chairman Oliver Stirböck, where the governing parties CDU and SPD confirmed the credibility of the statements from the witness wars.

Emotional riots and tensions

Messari-Becker's emotional reactions during her conversation with Mansoori reveal the personal drama behind the political turmoil. Mansoori, who commented on her dismissal at the meeting, said to Messari-Becker: “Lamia, you have crossed a line.” These words escalated the mood in the room even more. The entire incident raises questions not only about the integrity of the administration, but also about the structures that can promote such problems in public administration. Administrative scandals are not a new phenomenon in Germany; The number of such incidents was already increasing in the 1980s. Reports show that bad behavior and corruption are deeply rooted in the structures, often accompanied by a lack of transparency and high expectations of personal integrity among officials.

The complexity of the situation is compounded by the fact that there are also documented past incidents involving Messari-Becker, suggesting that litigation between her and the ministry is not out of the question. The conditions that led to these allegations becoming known are difficult to understand, which contributes to the general uncertainty in the political landscape of Hesse. Against this background, the public must ask itself what the standards and rules of conduct are in the administration and how such scandals can be prevented.

The investigative committee now has to clarify how deep the problems actually go and to what extent measures need to be taken to restore trust in the public institutions in Hesse. In order to counteract corruption and abuse of public office, transparency and openness are required so that the lessons from these incidents are not forgotten.