The media hype about the new CSU mayor candidate Ozan Iyibas was enormous. Even Anne Will and Markus Lanz asked the 37-year-old. In the end it was not enough. Iyibas is still proud.
Neufahrn – He does not turn his heart into a killer pit: He was disappointed, even partially “shocked”, that it was not even enough for the runoff and that Franz Heilmeier was already successful in the first round with 50.7 percent: Ozan Iyibas, the candidate for mayor of the CSU in Neufahrn, who achieved 21.8 percent and thus missed the runoff, is still proud. Proud to have set an “accent” as a candidate with a migration background and Alevi belief that it is not about belief and origin, but about the person. The result, of course, shows that society is not yet so far that it is enough for the post of mayor.
The candidacy of Iyibas had made waves - and also nationwide. Almost no campaign appearance of the 37-year-old, which did not include television cameras, national newspapers were on site. Iyibas reports that he gave around 180 interviews in the past few weeks. But at some point it got too much: he canceled Anne Will and Markus Lanz, and even received an inquiry from South Korea. But Iyibas' credo was: "I want to be Mayor of Neufahrn and not a media star."
Ozan Iyibas: "Time is not ripe for a Muslim as mayor"
"The hype surrounding the candidacy of a Muslim, in which the media had asked, for example, whether he would hang a cross in his office, neither used nor harmed him, Iyibas is certain. Iyibas attributes his defeat to other reasons: Franz Heilmeier's official bonus was an important aspect. Added to this was the “hype” about the Greens, who had increased their seats on the municipal council from two to eight (including seven newcomers). Then there was "the clerical backing" for the incumbent, which the CSU had probably underestimated. And finally, some voters may have had the same opinion that he was "super" as a local council (5215 votes - and thus most according to Heilmeier), but that the time was not yet ripe for a Muslim as mayor.
It was enough, however, that Iyibas was elected to the district council for the first time on March 15th. Iyibas said that was nice, but it should not be forgotten that the CSU also “had to give up” at this municipal level. He sees it differently than Prime Minister Markus Söder, who described the Greens as losers in the local elections. He was very self-critical and asked his party to break new ground. Iyibas will also go something new professionally: after 20 years of work, his heart is attached to Sparkasse Freising, where he was head of the main office in Freising until the start of the campaign. But after such a long time, he believes that the recent path as an independent management consultant is the right one. Nevertheless, he would not ignore other possible proposals and offers. And at the moment, the social and economic consequences of the corona crisis were "heavy on his stomach" anyway, as he says.
Also read: The craftsmen in the Freising district take a break.
