“I played tennis from 1 to 2 p.m. because I wanted to clear my head. I was reachable the whole time … my phone was on loud. I went straight back afterward and continued working,” he told Welt.
On Sunday, however, Wegner had offered journalists a different story when confronted as to his whereabouts the previous day. “I was at home. I literally locked myself in my home office and coordinated things from there,” he maintained.
Wegner, whose conservative CDU party governs Berlin in coalition with the Social Democrats, is facing criticism from opposition parties across the political spectrum.
Tobias Schulze, leader of the far-left Die Linke faction in Berlin’s state parliament, told POLITICO: “The fact that Kai Wegner chose to go play tennis instead of traveling to the crisis area shows a lack of responsibility and a lack of empathy. Mr. Wegner must ask himself whether he has lived up to the responsibility of his office.”
The far-right AfD also savaged the mayor. Kristin Brinker, leader of the party’s Berlin parliamentary group, said “Anyone who prefers leisure time in moments of crisis is in the wrong place. Mr. Wegner, you’ve lost this match. Take your hat.”
The Saturday blackout was triggered by an arson attack on an energy cable; the militant far-left Vulkangruppe faction has claimed responsibility. The outage affected some 45,000 households in the south of Berlin containing both wealthier residents and vulnerable people.