Greens' Obama wants a "colour-blind" Germany

He has been hailed by supporters as Germany’s answer to Barack Obama. But Cem Ozdemir, the new Green party co-leader, plays down the comparison. An article in The Financial Times.

He has been hailed by supporters as Germany’s answer to Barack Obama. But Cem Ozdemir, the new Green party co-leader, plays down the comparison.

The comparison has been drawn because Mr Ozdemir is the first leader of a German political party to be born of immigrant parents. Arriving alone for a meeting with the Financial Times, dragging his wheelie suitcase, he certainly lacks the entourage one might expect of a German Obama.

Sporting trademark bushy Elvis sideburns and smart jeans and speaking in a soft, south-west German accent over the incessant rumble of a muted mobile phone, Mr Ozdemir, 42, is quick to reject similarities with the US president-elect. "I’m Ozdemir of the Greens,” he says.

These pleas have not prevented others from pointing out the parallels. His relative youth, pragmatic politics, mould-breaking candidacy and literary output - he has written a book about the Turkish immigrant experience - have all prompted wistful glances across the Atlantic.

Much to Mr Ozdemir’s discomfort, some young supporters have taken to wearing badges proclaiming "Yes we Cem”, in homage to Mr Obama’s "Yes we can” campaign slogan. "I didn’t want that. I tried to prevent it,” he says. But perhaps he should not blame young activists for getting carried away. Having chosen a woman - Angela Merkel - as chancellor in 2005, the public has embraced his election as another step towards a more diverse political leadership.

Although more than half of Green party members of parliament are women, the figure is just under a third for the parliament as a whole, while only five of 613 members can claim Turkish roots. All 16 state premiers are men.

Mr Ozdemir’s elevation comes as Germany gears up for a general election next year. His party could play a pivotal role. Despite its relatively low position in the polls, there is an outside chance that Ms Merkel could be forced to share power with the Greens next September if she does not win a decisive victory over the Social Democrats.

A foretaste was provided in February, when the two parties agreed to put aside their differences to share power in Hamburg.

However, Mr Ozdemir acknowledges that the Social Democrats remain more natural bedfellows. The two parties governed together under the chancellorship of Gerhard Schroeder, with Jokscha Fischer, then Green party leader, serving as foreign secretary.

Reflecting on Germany’s struggle to integrate its 2.6m ethnic Turks, many of whom came as "guest workers” in the 1960s, Mr Ozdemir’s dream is to forge a "colour-blind society”, a goal he notes motivated many to vote for Mr Obama.

Although more than 600,000 ethnic Turks have become German citizens, many of the country’s largest minority population are marginalised because they lack a good education and language skills. "My goal is to ensure that one day I am no longer news,” says Mr Ozdemir.

This has proved elusive and not always for the right reasons. Elected to the Bundestag in 1994 a fledging parliamentary career was cut short in 2002 by an outcry about unauthorized use of air miles collected on public trips. A period of exile as an MEP in Brussels followed, so too a spell in Washington as a fellow of the German Marshall Fund.

Firmly back in the political spotlight, he admits now to being more cautious when talking to the media in an effort to avoid "unnecessary mistakes”.

Still, not everything is going his way, not least when the party last month declined to offer him a chance to return to parliament.

Mr Ozdemir becomes more animated when asked about the global crises facing the financial system and climate, which he believes have a single solution: "A green new deal.” His party wants huge investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, public transport and new electricity networks. The Greens want greater investment in education and childcare to act as an indirect economic stimulus. "That will take a lot of money - it is the duty of the state, not the private economy,” he says.

He describes the government’s recent stimulus package as "too little, too late”, and gives short shrift to calls to grant carmaker Opel €1bn ($1.25bn) in state credit guarantees.

"I am not prepared to pay up for poor management decisions and product ranges without being sure that in two years’ time we won’t have the same situation.”

Source: The Financial Times, 20.11.2008