Please be aware of the Forum Rules of Conduct.
He was elected as Margrave, not as Duke, so he can't secede. Now a Duke has been appointed, and the council is asking for him to step down so the Duke can take control of the city.I agree that if he wants to keep it, he should. I'm just saying it would not be against the no place-holder rule to step down now because he did not ran on a placeholding platform, he was merely ordered to do so after the fact.
On the other hand, I do not think there is anything wrong with power plays and people trying to convince/force others to step down.
I would find it rather interesting to join a realm where some good honest scheming goes on. People are too honest, where i've landed my characters. Well, apart from the Saxons that were in Barca and tried to ruin the realm. They were just irritating.