In the Duisburg voting districts 1001 and 0602, the party “Democratic Alliance for Diversity and Awakening” (Dava) came first in the European elections. The party received 41 percent and 43 percent of the votes there, putting it well ahead. In second place in the first district were the AfD with 14 percent and in the second the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) with 12 percent.
However, this is only a tiny part of the picture. Due to the low voter turnout of only about 10 percent in constituency 1001, 90 votes were enough for a 41 percent victory, while in constituency 6002 Dava received 47 votes.
The party, which was only founded in 2024 and aims to promote a “more positive image of Islam”, ran for the first time in an election. The two voting districts are located in the districts of Meiderich-Beeck and Hamborn. In voting district 0606, also in Hamborn, it also came first with around 25 percent. According to the city of Duisburg, 32.7 percent of residents have a migration background.
If you look at their results for entire districts, the result is weaker: In the Duisburg-Marxloh district, the party came in second with 17 percent and 221 votes, while the AfD came in first with 20 percent. In the Meiderich-Beeck district, Dava received 5.3 percent and 928 votes.
The area of Duisburg is divided into 323 electoral districts. Overall, Dava only received 2.5 percent in the city. It did not receive a seat in the European Parliament. Nationwide, Dava received 0.4 percent.
The party, founded in early 2024, sees itself as a representative of people with a migration background, especially Muslims, in Germany. It wants to introduce Turkish as a second foreign language and emphasizes the importance of traditional family structures. Critics accuse Dava of being close to the Turkish AKP and see her as an extension of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This was also suggested by a WELT investigation.
Serap Güler, a CDU member of the Bundestag from North Rhine-Westphalia, sees a parallel with the AfD: “Like the AfD, Dava serves a victim narrative that people of Turkish origin are excluded in Germany,” she told WELT.
According to the Federal Agency for Civic Education, Dava’s leading candidate, Fatih Zingal, was the spokesman for the “Union of International Democrats” (UID). The organization has been under surveillance by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution since 2017 as being close to the Turkish government. Mustafa Yoldaş, who was third on the list, is the former chairman of the “International Humanitarian Aid Organization” (IHH). The IHH was banned in 2010 because it financially supported the terrorist organization Hamas. Yoldaş was also a member of the “Islamic Community Millî Görüş e.V.” (IGMG). According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, this movement aims to help shape Germany’s political system in favor of an Islamist basic order and value system.
