More young people, more deputies from immigrant backgrounds … The new German chamber of deputies holds its first session on Tuesday, and a more diverse Bundestag is making its comeback. Of the 735 deputies, 83 have an immigrant background and nearly a third of the federal representation is under 40 years old. The only downside is the representation of women, who still only constitute 24% of the assembly.
More young people, more women, more elected officials with an immigrant background: the new German chamber of deputies, which is holding its first session on Tuesday October 26, is blowing a breeze of diversity but is still far from reflecting society .
One month after the legislative elections of September 26, it is time to return to school for the 736 elected members of the Bundestag. This assembly will be responsible for officially appointing the new chancellor, most likely Olaf Scholz, when his Social Democratic Party (SPD), which won the ballot, has completed its coalition negotiations with environmentalists and liberals.
While waiting to see her successor move to the Chancellery, Angela Merkel will take her place on Tuesday in the honorary tribune of Parliament: her government is only in charge of current affairs and herself, for the first time in 31 years, has not run for deputy.
Among the 118 Green MPs, the third group behind the Conservatives and Social Democrats, the two youngest elected are 23 years old.
The young voters largely carried this renewal. They mainly approved the ecologists, but also the liberals, like the deputy Ria Schröder (FDP, liberal party), very active on the social networks. “I receive a lot of messages and that makes it possible to measure what is important for the voters”, she explains to France 24. From this new Parliament, the young member hopes for great advances, in particular on education, digital , climate protection and innovation, she said. “I want us to take big steps forward and not be content with the lowest common denominator. Be brave.”
83 deputies with an immigrant background
Another sensation in Germany: a black woman is going to sit in the Bundestag for the first time.
A member of the Greens, Awet Tesfaiesus, 47, was born in Eritrea. Arrived in Germany at the age of 10, this lawyer from Kassel (center) has devoted her career to defending the rights of immigrants and refugees.
“We need diversity in this country,” she pleaded in an interview with AFP. “We need people who are victims of racism to be better represented.”
With Karamba Diaby, of Senegalese origin, who was the first black MP elected in the former GDR, and Armand Zorn, who arrived from Cameroon at the age of 12, they will be the only three blacks in an assembly largely dominated by men and whites.
Armand Zorn (SPD) is one of the 735 deputies of the new German Parliament. “There is a lot of pride, but I also feel the responsibility”, he confides to France 24. The latter joined the Social Democratic Party in 2011 and will now commute between his constituency of Frankfurt and the Parliament in Berlin.
“We must also admit that when we see the old parliamentary assemblies, frankly, there was not much representation. Suddenly, we come from very far and this small leap forward represents a lot,” he continues.
Like him, 83 members of the new Parliament have an immigrant background. And nearly a third of federal representation is under 40.
Indeed, the number of deputies of foreign origin is increasing. Today, they represent 11.3% of the Bundestag, against 8.2% (58 deputies) in the previous assembly.
“We are witnessing a revival in politics,” notes Deniz Nergiz, director of the Federal Council for Immigration and Integration (BZI), which promotes the political participation of people of foreign origin.
Also among the newly elected: Lamya Kaddor, who teaches Islamic religion in schools in the Ruhr area, a subject hotly discussed in recent years in Germany.
Women still under-represented
But even with more diversity, the Bundestag is still a long way from representing German society. “We are still far behind the 26% (of people of foreign origin) in society as a whole”, explains Deniz Nergiz.
The same observation can be made for the number of deputies, largely under-represented in a country which has however just been ruled for 16 years by a woman. They still only constitute 24% of the assembly against 20% under the previous legislature.
For the third time only, the Bundestag will be chaired by a woman: the socialist Bärbel Bas, 53, should succeed the essential Wolfgang Schäuble, member of the Bundestag since … 1972.
And significant disparities remain between parties. The Greens will have a majority of women (59%) including two transgender women, Tessa Ganserer and Nyke Slawik. In the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, they represent only 13% of the deputies.
With AFP
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