A Foot in the Door of Traditional German Politics

14.11.2008: Wall Street Journal

BERLIN -- Germany's Green party is expected to elect a son of Turkish immigrants, Cem Özdemir, as one of its leaders this weekend, making him the country's first party chief from an ethnic minority.

That would be a small but important breakthrough in a country where -- as in most of Europe -- top politicians from ethnic minorities are rare. U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's victory has sparked widespread discussion in Europe about the lack of public figures among the continent's growing minority populations.

While no minority candidates for national leadership are in sight, the growing immigrant populations of Germany, France and some other European countries are beginning to make inroads in parliaments and cabinets. Small, left-leaning parties like Mr. Özdemir's Greens tend to have more minority faces than the far larger governing parties, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats.

Germany, Western Europe's most populous country, is particularly difficult territory for would-be European Obamas: Millions of immigrants and their children, even if born in Germany, can't vote because they aren't citizens, blocked by strict citizenship laws. And Germany has just made getting a passport harder by introducing a controversial citizenship exam.

Immigrants and their children number about 15 million, or about 18% of Germany's total population of 82 million. There are about 2.5 million people in Germany of Turkish descent, according to the German government. But only 800,000 of those are German citizens and have the right to vote. Unlike in the U.S. or France, Germany has traditionally awarded citizenship based on bloodlines rather than place of birth.

"Political participation is hardly possible without citizenship," says Kenan Kolat, chairman of the main lobby group for Germany's large Turkish minority. "And without political participation, integration into society can't work."

The new federal citizenship exam replaces citizenship tests instituted in the past few years by some German states that appeared to be targeted at Muslims in particular. The tests asked applicants for their views on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., or on women's equality or homosexuality.

The new exam is less political, asking basic questions about Germany's constitution and history. It also includes some obscurely bureaucratic questions, such as how to protect a local bus route from being discontinued or where to register a dog. German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has defended the test, saying it's simpler than applying for a fishing license. Minority groups say it's another hurdle that is likely to slow naturalizations.

Citizenship rules vary greatly around Europe, but black or Asian faces are rare in parliaments, even in countries with large minority populations such as the U.K. and France. Only 15 minority lawmakers sit in Britain's parliament; if membership reflected the proportions in the British population, the number would be closer to 60.

The only British cabinet member from an ethnic minority, attorney general Baroness Scotland, is an appointee rather than an elected politician. There is only one black lawmaker in Italy's parliament and, in France, one from the country's mainland (though there are several from overseas territories such as Guadeloupe). French President Nicolas Sarkozy -- the son of a Hungarian immigrant -- has appointed three women with African backgrounds to his cabinet.

Changes to German law in 2000 opened easier roads to a German passport for immigrants and their children. But since then, Germany has made the rules stricter, partly to reassure those in the ethnic-German majority that the state isn't handing out passports to people who have little connection to the culture and values of the majority population and who, some policy makers have suggested, might be a security threat.

"Germany has a loyalty paranoia," says Omid Nouripour, a German Green party lawmaker who was born in Iran. "People with an immigrant background are suspected of not being loyal to Germany," he says, adding that he gets mail from voters every week questioning whether he can represent German interests.

Özcan Mutlu, a Turkish-born politician from Berlin's multiethnic Kreuzberg district, doubts that even his grandchildren will live to see a German chancellor with Turkish roots. "Germans would have to vote not only for a migrant, but for a Muslim," he says. "But in the future we'll have many more migrants in parliament."

Mr. Özdemir looks set to reach the highest rung yet among politicians born to Germany's postwar Gastarbeiter -- "guest workers" -- from Turkey and southern Europe.

"If he is elected it will be historic, a party leader who isn't blond and blue-eyed," says Mr. Nouripour. "Of course it's a smaller deal than Obama, but the effect is the same: The majority in society will get used to pictures of people from minority groups who have leadership roles."

Mr. Özdemir, who wasn't available for comment ahead of his party's conference this weekend, is already a role model for a new generation of minority politicians in Germany. Now 42 years old, the German-born son of Turkish immigrants became the first ethnic-minority candidate elected to Germany's national parliament, the Bundestag, in 1994. Today, 11 of the 612 Bundestag members have Middle Eastern or Asian roots.

Mr. Özdemir has had a bumpy ride in German politics. He resigned from the Bundestag in 2002 after it emerged he had taken a loan from a public-relations consultant and had used work-related air miles for private purposes. Currently a member of the European Parliament, Mr. Özdemir put himself up as a candidate for a parliamentary seat in Germany last month.

Though he is poised to become Green party chairman, he has a poor chance of getting into parliament. Under the proportional representation system, parties present lists of candidates, and the more votes the party gets, the more people on its list win seats. Local party members have put Mr. Özdemir low on their list of candidates: They weren't comfortable with his pragmatic views on coal-fired power stations and German troop deployment abroad, preferring a stricter environmentalist and pacifist stance.

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