He does not like to keep his mouth shut when it comes to matters that appear important to Omid Atai. The SPD politician is known for arguing vehemently and with great passion as a Poingen councilor and Ebersberg district councilor, especially for the concerns of socially disadvantaged people and for climate protection. But that is now a thing of the past: Atai has not been a member of the municipal council since November 1st, and he also resigned his mandate in the district council. In the local elections in spring 2020, the 28-year-old ran as a district administrator candidate for the SPD – and now: nothing at all, even his profiles on Instagram and Facebook, with which he was politically very well connected in the entire district of Ebersberg and beyond he deleted. Why this big cut?
“It was a rational decision,” says Atai. “You have to spend a lot of time doing voluntary work as a community and district councilor if you want to do a decent job.” Atai is sitting at the window of his apartment in Poingen, his cell phone set up in front of him – a video call. He has just come back from a walk through the town, looking for a bit of peace and quiet, because the night before there were none: As a member of the First Responder, a first aid group, he was called to a mission. After the rescue service had taken over the work, Atai went straight on, but now as a fire fighter: A rescue helicopter was ordered, the Poingen fire fighters illuminated the landing and take-off area.
“Over time it became more and more difficult for me to organize,” said Atai, explaining his decision to give up all political offices. First responders and firefighters are, after all, honorary positions, plus his full-time job as a paramedic, the state exams for his law degree are imminent, and then of course there are also family, friends and free time – he recently got his fishing license, currently he is studying for his hunter test. “You just have to be honest with yourself and at some point say: It doesn’t work that way anymore, now is the right time to stop.”
Still, he didn’t make the decision easy, as he says. For many weeks he had thought about whether he would like to quit both of his offices at all, and if so, whether he would. “But it doesn’t make sense for me to stay halfway in politics, so to speak.” The fact that two women move up for him, Christina Tarnikas in the local council and Maria Wirnitzer in the district council, also encouraged him – in the summer his decision was finally made. “I just want to take some time off.” On the day after the federal election in September, he announced his decision, first to his Poingen parliamentary group chairman and the SPD parliamentary group leader in the district council, Albert Hingerl.
The latter does not play an insignificant role in Atai’s political career, one could say that he was his sponsor and role model. “I think without Buck I would not have ended up with the SPD and generally not in politics at all,” says Atai – “Buck” is Hingerl’s nickname. When he first attended a meeting of the Poingen municipal council as a listener, Hingerl was still the town’s mayor. “It was important to me to understand how it all works, everything that depends on changes in the place.” That was in 2012 or 2013. “I hardly understood anything about what happened there,” says the 28-year-old, describing his memories of the time. Two other viewers, who had more experience in local politics, whispered the connections to him. That was noticed.
At some point Hingerl offered to talk to him for further questions. Atai then spent almost a whole afternoon in the office of the mayor at the time. Everything else came up bit by bit: the Poingen SPD spoke to him, he came to the local meeting, then joined the party, and when it came to the list for the 2014 local elections, he was asked if he would like to run. Despite his twelfth place on the list, he was elected to the local council by direct votes. The actual start of his career in local politics was probably that afternoon with today’s former mayor.
In Omid Atai, not only is a now very experienced member leaving the Poingen municipal council, but also the youngest member. The 28-year-old was also one of the youngest in the district council. So there is actually still enough time to return to politics in a few years. Or? “You should never say never,” says Atai. After all, he always enjoyed politics a lot. There has hardly been a trip that he has not returned from with a list and taken it to the mayor. “There, look, they have it all – why don’t we?” And yet Atai is convinced that there will definitely be no return to politics in the foreseeable future. Perhaps one will meet him again from time to time as a spectator in the Poingen municipal council meetings. Let’s see. “If there is something that moves me a lot, I will definitely be standing on a mat somewhere – the worst part is not to say anything.”