Stuttgart: Germany's Left Party Targets Voters with Migrant Backgrounds in Their Native Languages
Left Party woos migrant voters with multilingual election campaign
In Baden-Württemberg's state election campaign, the Left Party (Die Linke) is reaching out to voters with migrant backgrounds by addressing them in their mother tongues. According to Bild (Friday edition), party leader Jan van Aken has practiced greetings and short messages in Turkish, Italian, Greek, Bosnian, and Arabic, working with a language coach to refine his delivery.
The party plans to roll out a series of video clips on social media, with the first posted on Instagram on Tuesday. In it, van Aken speaks Italian to advocate for affordable housing and urges viewers to vote for the Left Party in the March 8 state election.
The initiative stems from the party's strategy to engage voters with migrant roots. Van Aken told the newspaper: "In countless conversations—including door-to-door—we've found that many people with migrant backgrounds still feel ignored by politics, even after decades here. A simple 'hello' in Turkish or 'let's stay in touch' in Italian can be a powerful way to connect with people who've given up on politics or no longer expect much from it." He added that addressing potential voters in their native language is also a matter of respect.
Current statewide polls place the Left Party at around seven percent—above the five-percent threshold needed to enter parliament. A recent INSA survey shows the party at twelve percent among voters with migrant backgrounds, compared to ten percent among those without.
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