Die Linke finished first today in the state elections in Berlin (~25%) with an increase of 13 points, led by Alif Arlap, a 45-year-old lawyer of Turkish origin.

Die Linke finished first today in the state elections in Berlin (~25%) with an increase of 13 points, led by Alif Arlap, a 45-year-old lawyer of Turkish origin.

If she becomes mayor of the government, she will be Berlin's first mayor of Turkish origin, the first head of state in Germany with an immigrant background, and the first female politician to lead the capital.

Her campaign has been compared to that of the mayor of New York, Zohar Mamdani. Her team actually exchanged ideas with Mamdani's campaign. The media called her "Berlin's Hammadani".

Housing led the vote.

85% of rents and advertised rents for Berliners have doubled since 2014.

Her key promise is to implement the 2021 referendum to take ~240,000 private apartments into public ownership.

The coalition talks will determine if she actually manages - a Linke-Greens-SPD bloc or a CDU-Greens-SPD coalition are both mathematically possible.