The results of the German national elections showed crucial changes in the electorate structure and future consequences for various political groups. 1 of the most interesting aspects was the clear preference of Muslim voters towards the leftist parties, which could have long-term effects on the political scene of Germany – especially erstwhile advanced reproduction in this group will be maintained.
According to a survey by the Wahlen investigation group commissioned by ZDF, over 60% of German Muslims with citizenship voted for 3 leftist parties. The biggest beneficiary of this trend was utmost left-wing Die Linke, which gained 29% of the vote of this community – more than 3 times its country-wide score (8.8%). The Social Democratic SPD besides enjoyed large support (28%), although the organization recorded the worst score in history, scoring only 16.4% of full votes. The Greens have only gained 4%, suggesting that climate issues are of small importance to this community.
In turn, the centre-right CDU won only 12% of the Muslim vote, and AfD gained only 6%, little than half of their national support. If only Muslims voted in the election, the right-wing parties would be outside the government.
An interesting case is besides the left-wing BSW party, the leader of which is Sahra Wagenknecht. Although this group has anti-immigration politics, it managed to attract 6% of Muslim votes. The Sahry Wagenknecht Alliance – for Reason and Justice (BSW) in the fresh elections to the Bundestag was just below the threshold with a score of 4.97% and did not get mandates.
Muslim political preferences in Germany represent a major challenge for right-wing parties, peculiarly in the context of demographic forecasts. Currently, Muslims account for 6.6% of the German population, but their number increases faster than another social groups. There are 3 main reasons for this trend:
- Labour immigration – Germany continues to accept a large number of migrants, and the CDU-SPD government does not want to limit this process.
- Higher birth rate – Muslim women have an average of 1.9 children per woman, while the indicator for non-Muslims is 1.4.
- Naturalisation of Citizens – presently only half of German Muslims have citizenship and voting rights, but in the following years many of them will gain full voting rights.
Left parties are aware of this trend and effort to strengthen their support among this group. An example is the erstwhile Secretary of State Sawsan Chebli of the SPD, who before the elections appealed to Muslims to stay in the country and vote, arguing that “demography would make facts.”
One of the key factors that influenced the choice of organization by Muslims was the issue of Palestine and abroad policy towards Israel. Die Linke, the most openly critic of Israel, achieved the best score among Muslims. Support for this organization was peculiarly visible in the Neukölln territory of Berlin, where a large number of Muslims live – it was there that Die Linke won a ticket for the first time in past outside the erstwhile GDR.
Muslim electoral behaviour contrasts with the preferences of another spiritual groups in Germany. The results show that:
- Catholics most frequently voted for CDU/CSU (39%), followed by AfD (18%) and SPD (15%).
- The Protestants mostly chose the Union of CDU/CSU (29%) and the SPD and AfD (20%).
- Among those without religion, the most support was gained by AfD (24%), surpassing even CDU/CSU (22%).
Such differences indicate that religion and cultural origin have a strong influence on the political preferences of German voters.
Muslim in the Bundestag
Although the number of Muslims in the Bundestag has fallen from 38 to 28 MPs, their presence is increasingly visible. The most representatives of this group have:
- SPD – 10 Members,
- Greens – 8 Members,
- Die Linke – 7 Members,
- CDU – 3 Members,
- AfD – 0 Members.
Although their number is lower than in 2021, the ratio of 4.4% better reflects the real participation of Muslims in German society
