‘Hope’ rises in Berlin immigrant communities as Left wins amid AfD gains
The Left party, led by Turkish-origin Elif Eralp, won Berlin, offering a contrast to the far right's wins in the east.
Berlin, Germany – The morning after Berlin’s historic vote was chilly and overcast, but for Sumeja Skeva, an 18-year-old student in the bustling Neukolln district, the city’s prospects could not be brighter.
On Sunday, Berliners delivered an unprecedented victory to The Left (Die Linke in German) party, a camp long seen as radical for its anti-capitalist and pro-migrant stance. Elif Eralp, the party’s Berlin leader, is of Turkish descent and is likely to become the city’s first mayor with an immigrant background. She would also be Berlin’s first mayor from the Left.
The party’s win has brought relief to pro-migrant residents at a time when the far-right AfD party continues to gain support in eastern states, as well as to young people below 30, who, lured by the promise of affordability, represented the bulk of the Left’s voter base at the polls.
As leftists celebrated in Berlin, the far-right AfD party, which opposes migration, also cheered its strong gains in the election. The party clinched 16 percent of the vote in Berlin to come in third place. On the same day, it also won state elections in northeastern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state, making it the AfD’s second state election victory in two weeks.