Hanover has elected a new Lord Mayor on Sunday. With the Green politician Belit Onay now attracts a Turkish mayor for the first time in the city hall of Lower Saxony's capital. The chairman of the Turkish community in Germany, Gökay Sofuoglu, has described the election of onays mayor as an "excellent result".
"Because it is a sign of normalization that it is possible for a guest worker to become a mayor," said Sofuoglu the editorial network Germany. Onay had not been appointed, but elected by the people. "It shows that cohesion is stronger than hate". Also in the Turkish media was reported on the election. The news platform "Ahval" described Onays victory as a "strong symbol". CNN Türk cited Onay in the headline. He wanted to build bridges, it said.
The 38-year-old state legislator Onay had prevailed in the runoff for the OB office on Sunday with 52.9 percent of the votes against the competing for the CDU Eckhard Scholz. Hannover is thus after Freiburg (until 2018), Darmstadt and Stuttgart, the fourth major German city, in which a Grüner moves up to Lord Mayor. Onay is also nationwide the first Lord Mayor with a migration background in a state capital. (Read during the day to give an interview with Onay on SPIEGEL ONLINE.)
SPD replaced after more than 70 years
At the same time ended with the election of the Green politician an era for the SPD in Hannover. For the first time in more than 70 years, she no longer places the Lord Mayor in the capital of Lower Saxony. The Social Democrat Marc Hansmann had landed in the first ballot at the end of October in third place.
The former SPD Mayor Stefan Schostok had resigned after an indictment for "serious infidelity" in April and had announced new elections. The allegation against him: Schostok's office manager Frank Herbert is said to have received since 2015 unlawful extra payments in addition to his salary - with the knowledge and support of his boss. He denies the allegations.
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