The
award-winning Gambian film scholar, producer and journalist, Prince Bubacarr
Aminata Sankanu, made history on Monday, the 5th September 2016 by becoming the
first person of Gambian descent to be democratically chosen as a candidate in
German elections of 2017.
The
German Pirates Party (Piratenpartei Deutschland) officially chose Prince
Sankanu during its primaries as its candidate for the upcoming parliamentary
elections of the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW) on the 14 May
2017. Sankanu will be running for Wahkreis 17 (Constituency 17) in the south-east
district of Cologne-Porz covering 19 boroughs. It has a combined population of
139,432 and is home to strategic institutions such as a garrison of the German
army (Bundeswehr) and air force (Luftwaffe) base, national aeronautics and
space research centre, the European Astronaut Centre, the historic Deutz AG
engine factory, the Merheim teaching hospital of the University of
Witten/Hardecke and the Cologne-Bonn international airport.
Prince
Bubacarr Aminata Sankanu who is upbeat says the best way of challenging the
growing right-wing sentiments is to allay the fears of the populations. Germany
is the destination of choice for countless refugees and “back way” migrants.
With about one million new arrivals over the past 12 months, this influx is
making sections of the population uneasy. The debates on the pressure on social
services, safety and public infrastructure are getting emotional. The German
Chancellor Dr. Angelo Merkel’s popularity is affected. Her governing Christian
Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party coalition partners are losing
votes to the right-wing populist parties.
Sankanu
says “I would like to thank my fellow Pirates for the trust and confidence in
me. I have been living in this country since 1998 and I understand the
mentality of the people. I will avail myself to the concerns of my constituents
accordingly. We the Pirates have progressive policies that we are articulating
in our manifesto and on the streets.”
The
German Pirates Party was founded in 2006 by a group of progressive and dynamic
men and women who want to break-away from the obsolete political practices. The
party is represented in the EU parliament. It has seats 205 seats in municipal
and rural councils across German states of Baden-Württemberg (10 seats
municipal seats), Brandenburg (16 seats), Hamburg (4 seats),
Mecklenburg-Pomerania (9 seats), North-Rhine Westphalia (114 seats),
Rhineland-Palatinate (12 seats), Saarland (13 seats), Saxony (6 seats),
Saxony-Anhalt (11 seats) and Thuringia (10 seats). At state levels, the Pirates
have 19 seats in the parliaments of NRW, 15 seats in Berlin, 4 seats in
Saarland and 6 in Schleswig Holstein.
The
Piratenpartei Deutschland is part of the Pirate Parties (PPI) International. A
global network of pirate parties in Iceland, Canada, Finland, Italy, Holland,
Serbia, Ukraine, Austria, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, UK,
Argentina, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Peru, Switzerland, Croatia, Belarus, Belgium,
Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, Estonia, Latvia,
South Korea, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Turkey and USA.
Prince
Sankanu is the German Pirates Party’s Commissioner (Beauftragter) for
sub-Saharan Africa.
