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By Abimbola Ogunnaike
A German village has elected a Syrian refugee as its new Mayor with an absolute majority of 55.41per cent of the votes.
Ryyan Alshebl, 29, who fled Syria in 2015, stood as a non-party candidate to become mayor of Ostelsheim in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg.
The municipality announced him as the winner late on the evening of Sunday, April 2, 2023
Alshebl, a member of the Green Party describes his experiences in the election campaign as “mostly positive”.
Alshebl, who is probably the first Syrian mayor in the southwest of Germany, said as a mayor, he planned to move to Ostelsheim in the district of Calw.
According to the Association of Municipalities of Baden-Württemberg, there has been no other candidate with Syrian roots for a mayor’s office so far.
In the election, Alshebl prevailed against the non-party candidates Marco Strauß and Mathias Fey.
