German From Senegal Vies to Break Bundestag BarrierHALLE, Germany — When Karamba Diaby arrived in Germany as a student from Senegal he knew only two things in German: Bundesliga and BMW — the professional soccer league and the automobile manufacturer. The only hitch was that it was October 1985 and Mr. Diaby had landed in East Germany, where comrades frowned on both West German capitalist institutions.
“They weren’t too fond of hearing that in the East,” said Mr. Diaby, 51. “They told me, ‘We don’t say BMW here, we say ‘Trabi,’ ” the nickname for the rickety yet ubiquitous East German car, the Trabant.
The bland, greasy food in East Germany was a far cry from the spicy cuisine of his native Senegal, where his sister used to cook his favorite dish, thiebou dien, a paellalike preparation made with fried okra, yams and fish. But he stuck it out to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, making a home for himself here in Saxony-Anhalt State and becoming a German citizen in 2001.
Now Mr. Diaby has the opportunity to make history himself. He placed third in the Social Democrats’ state primary in February to earn a coveted spot on the party’s parliamentary list. If Mr. Diaby and the Social Democrats can defend the three seats they won here four years ago, he would become the first black member of the Bundestag in German history.
Around Halle, a former hub for East Germany’s chemical industry, Mr. Diaby is renowned for his extroverted personality, which bears no trace of Teutonic reserve, and for his loquacity. His loud, cackling laugh is immediately recognizable, and his accent blends both the regional dialect here and his Francophone African roots. People here like to joke that Mr. Diaby takes five times as long as other people to get anywhere because he stops to talk to everyone he meets along the way.
An outdoor May Day festival this year on Halle’s central square was no exception. Mr. Diaby was chatting with constituents in a long brown jacket buttoned all the way up, a red carnation pinned to his collar. In one hand he held a chocolate chip muffin that remained half-eaten for hours, he was so absorbed in shaking hands and greeting voters.
THE fact that Germany has never voted a black man into Parliament is an indication of the sometimes arms-length relationship Germany has with its minorities. “It wasn’t easy for him at the beginning,” said Klaus Magyar, 77, a retired hospital director from Halle who spoke with Mr. Diaby at the festival. “People weren’t used to someone with a different skin color.”
The former East Germany is still at pains to shake its reputation for being a breeding ground for far-right extremism. The far-right National Democratic Party has seats in two state legislatures in the former East and none in the former West.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/01/world/europe/german-from-senegal-vies-for-bundestag-and-a-first.html?ref=europe&_r=0&pagewanted=all...
Good luck, but the SPD did not really well in that district 4 years ago:
Direct vote:
34% Left
31% CDU
16% SPD
9% FDP
8% Greens
2% NPD
Party list vote:
32% Left
27% CDU
16% SPD
12% FDP
9% Greens
2% NPD
4% Others
...
But considering that he placed 3rd in the state-SPD-primary, could he be elected on the party list vote, if he fails to win the direct mandate ?
...
BTW, his district (# 72) breaks down as ca. 95% German citizens and 5% foreigners and 94% with no migration background vs. 6% with migration background.
