“Your city. Your choice!”: The slogan didn’t catch the slightest bit. With this poster message, Munich advertised in umpteen languages and one head, consisting of many faces, for five weeks at bus stops, in libraries, clubhouses and placed ads on social networks. The action should bring the hoped-for boost for participation in the election of the Migration Advisory Board on March 19th. In the 2017 elections, only 3.6 per cent were cast by a dramatically small number of Munich residents without a German passport. This time, according to the preliminary election results, the number fell even further: to 3.1 percent.
The committee thus continues to carry its legacy with it: the problem of not being visible in its own communities. Neither as a representative that advises the city council on the political participation of its members, nor as a group that initiates integrative events and projects. With 400,000 people from 180 countries, the Munich Migration Advisory Board represents almost a quarter of the city’s society. According to the city, only 12,508 people went to the ballot box on March 19 – the official figures will be announced on Wednesday, March 29.
City Council-backed lists are catching up
After the shockingly low turnout in 2017, both the advisory board and the city council agreed that something had to change: through reform. Both sides also considered this necessary because at the beginning of the last term of office there was concern that right-wing Turkish groups, some of which are also connected to the Ülkücü movement known as the Gray Wolves, could dominate the migration advisory board.
The two groups involved, Atlas and the Ay Yildiz initiative, occupied a total of twelve of the 40 seats on the board. The Turkish-International Union Atlas was the absolute leader with eight seats. A completely different tableau is now emerging in the current election: Atlas and the Munich Migrants Alliance, which is supported by the CSU city council, are tied with six seats each. “United in Diversity” follows with five seats, for which the Volt party represented in the town hall has campaigned.
Three seats each go to the diversity alliance, which is close to the Greens, the international list of progressive social democrats and finally the Ay Yildiz initiative. Two seats each are held by the Greek List, the Action Alliance diverse and solidary, and the Liberal List, which is headed by the current Chair of the Advisory Board, Dimitrina Lang. She is a member of the committee again. Eight other lists have one seat each.
“Younger, more feminine and more diverse”
The reaction of the Greens in the city council must be imagined as a collective sigh of relief: Congratulations to all democratic forces on the successful performance in the elections, they say. “We are particularly pleased that the future Migration Advisory Board will be significantly younger, more female and more diverse.” In contrast, the “right-wing and ultra-nationalist forces” have suffered significant losses. Manuel Pretzl, CSU parliamentary group leader in City Hall, calls his Christian Socialist party colleague even more focused on his own ranks: “I congratulate Olga Dub-Büssenschütt in particular.” With 5232 votes, the native Ukrainian secured the best result.
Last summer, the Greens and CSU together provoked a real uproar in the city council with a joint reform proposal: Against the veto of all other parties, they succeeded in ensuring that the migration advisory board would in future have ten advisory, voting members appointed by the city council. The group should become more effective and more defensive against the law.
“In the past, they didn’t care!”
The migrant representation calls this “paternalism” and knows that the city hall SPD is on their side. “That’s not democratic,” says SPD city councilor Cumali Naz, who was chairman of the advisory board from 1998 to 2010. The recently low voter turnout was “disappointing”. He also attributes it to “the fact that it is exclusively an advisory body to the city council and cannot do anything in terms of power politics. That hinders motivation.” At the same time, he is pleased that the established parties were involved in the election this time. “In the past, they didn’t care!” The fact will now also strengthen the joint work and make it more political.
The term of office of the Advisory Board has been reduced to three years. Elections are to be held again in 2026, then for the first time parallel to the local elections. That too is part of the reform, which Naz hopes will generate more acceptance than the recent billboard slogan.