Germany’s national parliament is likely to have more deputies with migration background after Sunday’s election as parties have actively sought to mobilize and capture the votes of the large immigrant community.
Around 100 candidates with migration background, 66 of them of Turkish origin are standing for election on Sunday and around 10 of them have a solid chance of securing a seat in the Bundestag, or federal parliament.
Germany has about 15 million inhabitants with a migrant background. Around 5 million of them are eligible to vote, making up 10 percent of the electorate.
Turks are the largest immigrant group with a population of close to 3 million, around 1 million of whom have acquired German citizenship. The number of German-Turkish voters is estimated to be around 700,000.
While Turkish community constitutes the 3.75 percent of the overall population, the number of Turkish-German deputies at the federal parliament is significantly low. Currently less than 1 percent of the deputies have been of Turkish descent.
The Greens, more open to immigrants
On Sunday’s election, the Green Party has more candidates with immigrant background than any other political party. The opposition party, whose co-leader Cem Ozdemir is also of Turkish origin has put forward 24 candidates with migration background.
Greens are popular especially among the young generations of the Turkish community. Green candidates Cem Ozdemir, Ozcan Mutlu and Ekin Deligoz are likely to get seats at the Parliament.
The Left party (Die Linke) has put forward 22 candidates with immigration background followed by Social Democratic Party (SPD) which has 20 candidates with immigrant background.
Turks traditionally support the SPD
Member of the Turkish community had traditionally voted for the Social Democrats, and according to a study by Data 4 U, 64 percent of the Turkish—German voters said they are willing to support SPD on Sunday’s election. Some other surveys put that number around 50 percent.
Among the 10 SPD candidates of Turkish origin, Aydan Ozoguz, who is also the deputy chairwoman of the SPD, has a solid chance of securing a seat in the Bundestag. Another candidate Macit Karaahmetoglu seems likely to enter the Bundestag for the first time. 26-year-old SPD candidate Mahmut Ozdemir, one of the youngest candidates running for the federal parliament, is also hopeful.
For the first time in their history, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) also put forward a Turkish-Muslim candidate, Cemile Giousouf, to run for the federal election. If elected, she will be the first Turkish-Muslim deputy in CDU’s parliamentary group.
Liberal Free Democrat Party’s (FDP) deputy Serkan Toren’s hope for entering the Parliament for a second time largely depends on his party’s success to pass the 5 percent threshold. FDP has around 10 candidates with migration background.
Germany’s first political party founded overwhelmingly by the immigrants and Turks is running for the first time in the general election. The BIG party (Alliance for Innovation and Justice) has also put forward 23 candidates of Turkey origin.
Political analysts expect around 10 of candidates of Turkish origin to enter Germany’s federal parliament Sunday. In the last election of 2009, only 5 deputies of Turkish origin could enter the federal parliament Bundestag, which has 622 seats.