What could possibly go wrong.
A commission chaired by Germany’s immigration and refugee czar has proposed voting rights for migrants living in the county. According to the Federal Integration Commissioner Aydan Özoguz, “people who permanently live in a country should be able to participate in democratic decision making.”
Keeping a Brexit-like scenario in mind, commission wants the voting rights for migrants and refugees at par with German citizens in any future referendum.
The head of the commission, Turkish-origin Aydan Özoguz, has been serving as Minister of State in Merkel’s Chancellery since 2013. As Federal Commissioner for Immigration, Refugees and Integration she has been instrumental in shaping and executing Merkel’s ill-advised “Refugee” Policy.
The report was commissioned by German Social Democratic Party’s (SPD) Friedrich Ebert Foundation. SPD — currently a coalition partner in Merkel’s government — is surging ahead in the polls ahead of September General Elections. SPD’s Chancellor Candidate Martin Schulz already backs many of the ideas proposed by Commissioner Özoguz.
The right-wing AfD party attacked commission’s proposals as an attempt by leftist SPD to create new voters.
The report paints a picture of Germany where natives were soon to become minority. “[M]igrants and their offsprings make up the majority in several [German] cities. [City of] Offenbach leads the trend where more than 80 percent of children have a migrant background.” The changing demographics “require a new understanding of the composition of [German] society.”
The published proposal is peppered with social justice jargon and deliberately ambiguous terms. German newspaper Die Welt reported on Commissioner Özoguz’s proposal:
A commission headed by Federal Integration Commissioner Aydan Özoguz, on behalf of SPD-affiliated Friedrich Ebert Foundation, has created a mission statement for Germany’s immigration society. (…)
A just society means that everyone can participate.
Therefore the authors demand local voting rights for non-EU foreigners living permanently in Germany. It is integral “to democratic principles that people who permanently live in a country should be able to participate in democratic decision making.” (…)
Furthermore, permanently residing foreigners should get the right to vote in referenda. The possibility of co-decision making in questions of one’s own living environment should be regarded as a participatory progress.
Towards this aim, members of the commission believe, one needs easier access to German citizenship, “lowering of the minimum duration in case of naturalisation, targeted use of available possibilities in case a discretionary naturalisation, and provision of dual citizenship.” Targets could be set to encourage companies to employ people with migration background. [Author’s translation)
Via LI