‘Hope’ rises in Berlin immigrant communities as Left wins amid AfD gains

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.

“It was my first time voting,” Skeva said. The neighbourhood, where the smell of sizzling kebabs wafts from stalls onto busy streets, is home to a large immigrant population. “I want them to tax the rich and to provide more opportunities for everyone,” she added.

Eralp, who has been likened to New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, campaigned to end high rent prices and chronic housing shortages in the ever-expanding city. The Left party’s plans include issuing rent caps – a phrase Eralp wears on a gold necklace – and expropriating homes from big corporate landlords.

She has also promised to clean up dirty neighbourhoods, prioritise social spending on vulnerable groups such as the homeless, and fight for non-citizens’ rights to vote in local elections.

“I am going to be happy to see all the new changes they promised,” said security worker Michael Akan, 26, a Left voter from Wedding, a diverse working-class district. “High rent prices are a problem for me, and gas prices too.”

States cannot regulate gas or other commodity prices, but Akan, like many of the Left’s supporters, believes Eralp’s anti-poor policies will somehow cascade and ease their living situation. Her party won 25.7 percent of the state’s vote – the highest – and a poll by broadcaster ZDF showed Eralp’s own ratings at 36 percent, the highest among candidates for the mayor’s post.