Karamba Diaby will no longer be running in the next federal elections. However, the ongoing racist hostility is not the main reason for this.
Wants to make room for the next generation: SPD MP Karamba Diaby Photo: Ronny Hartmann/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
LEIPZIG taz | SPD MP Karamba Diaby has announced the end of his time in the Bundestag: After three legislative terms, he will not run for the Bundestag again next year. The politician from Saxony-Anhalt first explained this in a letter to the SPD rank and file and then online. Diaby is one of the most prominent SPD politicians from East Germany, but has repeatedly been exposed to racist hostility and threats in recent years.
His decision to retire from federal politics was not politically motivated, Diaby emphasizes. He considers his work in the Bundestag since 2013 to be successful. At that time, he was the first black person born in Africa to become a member of the Bundestag. He was born in Senegal in 1961 and studied in the GDR. In 2021, the doctor of chemistry and geoecology won the direct mandate in the Halle constituency. In parliament, he campaigned for better education, the minimum wage and dual citizenship, among other things.
But now he wants to break new ground and make room for the next generation. After all, he will be 63 years old at the end of this yearDiaby tells the taz. “I’ve been playing with the idea for a year now and it’s become more mature with my family.” He explains that he “wants to have more time for my family, friends and our fate in the future.” He remains involved with the SPD.
The SPD regional faction spokesman for Saxony-Anhalt, Martin Kröber, said according to the regional MCentral German newspaper about the announced withdrawal: “I deeply regret the decision, but I can understand it given the threats.” When asked by the Taz, Diaby said that this was not the main reason, “but it is true, you cannot sweep something like that away.”
Racist slogans in the Bundestag
Because of the Diaby received racist attacks Police protection already in 2011 – before his time in the Bundestag. At that time he was in the SPD city council and received racist criticism Those kind of death threats Mirror in that time reported. Physical attacks have also occurred since then, such as when a man committed arson at his office in May 2023.
About a month ago, Diaby made public another right-wing death threat on Instagram, also directed at his employees. He noted: “For me, the level of hatred and incitement has reached a new level.”
Diaby also had to listen to slogans in the Bundestag; for example, when AfD MP and Baden-Württemberg State President Markus Frohnmaier accused him of having a problem with “accepting Central European customs”. For this, Frohnmaier was called upon to order.
After Michael Roth and Michelle Müntefering, Diaby is the third SPD MP this year to announce his withdrawal from federal politics. In 2021, Diaby won the direct mandate in Halle with 28.8 percent of the first votes. In the last fifteen months, Diaby wants to tackle a number of tasks as an MP “so that everything runs smoothly,” he says.