THE Migrants Party of Ireland made a brief foray into the rough-and-tumble world of Irish politics last week. And if the name is new to you, there’s a good reason: it doesn’t really exist.
The ‘party’ briefly came in and out of being last week in order to ensure that a migrant voice was represented on a panel featuring candidates vying for election in the Dublin Central constituency.
The Questions And Answers-style session took place between the candidates and members of the local community at the Law Society of Ireland. Representing the Migrants Party was Kazik Anhalt (pictured above right), a Polish national who works for Siptu, and who held his own in a session dominated by health and education-related issues.
When asked afterwards if he would consider entering politics for real, he told Metro Eireann: “I believe in the middle-term, yes I will go for it, I feel I have the strength for it.”
As a non-Irish citizen, Anhalt can neither run nor vote in the Republic of Ireland’s general elections. However, he said this restriction is “fair”, and that the immigrant communities must be proactive about asserting their voices in the local elections, which all migrants are entitled to vote in, and European elections, which EU citizens can vote in.
Anhalt said he is already thinking ahead to the 2009 local elections, and the potential of the ‘migrant vote’ which, he said, “might be very significant if we make our voices count nationally. It is good for immigrants to participate in political processes because we have some experiences from our own countries.”
Recently, a study on what the six main Irish political parties were doing to engage with immigrants revealed that no party had a strategy to attract members of these communities. However, a number of parties indicated in the study that the issue of involving immigrants – as members and voters – would become prioritised in advance of the 2009 local elections.
The Questions And Answers-style session took place between the candidates and members of the local community at the Law Society of Ireland. Representing the Migrants Party was Kazik Anhalt (pictured above right), a Polish national who works for Siptu, and who held his own in a session dominated by health and education-related issues.
When asked afterwards if he would consider entering politics for real, he told Metro Eireann: “I believe in the middle-term, yes I will go for it, I feel I have the strength for it.”
As a non-Irish citizen, Anhalt can neither run nor vote in the Republic of Ireland’s general elections. However, he said this restriction is “fair”, and that the immigrant communities must be proactive about asserting their voices in the local elections, which all migrants are entitled to vote in, and European elections, which EU citizens can vote in.
Anhalt said he is already thinking ahead to the 2009 local elections, and the potential of the ‘migrant vote’ which, he said, “might be very significant if we make our voices count nationally. It is good for immigrants to participate in political processes because we have some experiences from our own countries.”
Recently, a study on what the six main Irish political parties were doing to engage with immigrants revealed that no party had a strategy to attract members of these communities. However, a number of parties indicated in the study that the issue of involving immigrants – as members and voters – would become prioritised in advance of the 2009 local elections.
