Ali Abass Yahya Al-Dailami (; born 27 December 1981) is a German-

Yemeni Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the northeast, the south-eastern part of the Arabian Sea to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south ...

politician who has been serving as

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

since

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. He was one of six deputy leaders of The Left from 2018 to 2023, before joining the newly formed

Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – Reason and Justice ( , BSW) is a List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany founded on 8 January 2024. It has been described as a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-le ...

Early life

Al-Dailami was born in 1981 in

Sanaa Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

North Yemen North Yemen () is a term used to describe the Kingdom of Yemen (1918-1962), the Yemen Arab Republic (1962-1990), and the regimes that preceded them and exercised sovereignty over that region of Yemen. Its capital was Sanaa from 1918 to 1948 an ...

. When he was eight years old, his family fled to Germany as refugees. He attended elementary school in

Sankt Julian Sankt Julian (often rendered St. Julian) is an ''Ortsgemeinde (Germany), Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel (district), Kusel District ...

in the state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

. Ali's mother died when he was twelve years old, and he was placed in a children's home at his own request. He lived at several different Children and Youth Services facilities, including one in

Lich, Hesse Lich () is a town in the Gießen (district), district of Gießen, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 12 km southeast of Gießen. Lich has a population of around 13,000. Geography Location The town is located on the river Wetter (river), Wet ...

. Upon turning 18, Al-Dailami dropped out of school and moved to

Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

. There, he earned his ''

Mittlere Reife The Mittlere Reife (, lit. ''"Middle Maturity"'') is a school-leaving certificate in Germany that is usually awarded after ten years of schooling. It is roughly comparable with the British GCSE. The official name varies between the federal st ...

'' at a

night school A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The scuol ...

. He was dependent on unemployment benefits and, among other things, did contract work for

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

on an

assembly line An assembly line, often called ''progressive assembly'', is a manufacturing process where the unfinished product moves in a direct line from workstation to workstation, with parts added in sequence until the final product is completed. By mechan ...

and in a warehouse, among other things. He then took an apprenticeship as a restaurant clerk.

Political career

Al-Dailami joined The Left in 2006. The same year, he co-founded the Left Youth Solid branch in Giessen and become its spokesman. He was also elected to the executive committee of The Left's Giessen association. From 2007 to 2008, he was a member of the party's Hessian state executive. He was also spokesman for the state working group on migration, integration and anti-racism from 2007 to 2012, when he became federal spokesman for the same topics. The next year, he became chairman of the Giessen party association. He was elected to The Left's federal executive in 2008, and as one of six deputy leaders in 2018. Al-Dailami ran in the

2013 German federal election The 2013 German federal election was held on 22 September to elect the members of the 18th Bundestag of Germany. At stake were all 598 seats to the Bundestag, plus 33 overhang seats determined thereafter. The Christian Democratic Union of German ...

in the

Gießen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the German state () of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students. Th ...

constituency, winning 5.1% of votes. He was sixth on the state party list but was not elected. He ran again in 2017 and won 6.3%, again failing to enter the Bundestag. He unsuccessfully ran in the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...

. While campaigning in April 2014, Al-Dailami was assaulted and required hospital treatment. He filed a criminal complaint against his attacker. In the

2021 German federal election The 2021 German federal election was held in Germany on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the 20th Bundestag. State elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were also held. Incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel, first elected in 2005, ...

, Al-Dailami was the lead candidate for The Left in Hesse. He was second on the state party list, behind federal lead candidate

Janine Wissler Janine Natalie Wißler (born 23 May 1981), known professionally as Janine Wissler, is a German politician who has been co-chairwoman of The Left and member of the Bundestag for Hesse since 2021. Prior to that, she served as member of the Lan ...

, and was elected to the Bundestag. He won 4.0% of votes in the Gießen constituency. Within the party, Al-Dailami is considered an ally of

Sahra Wagenknecht Sahra Wagenknecht (; 16 July 1969) is a German politician. She was a member of the Bundestag from 2009 to 2025, where she represented The Left until 2023. From 2015 to 2019, she served as that party's parliamentary co-chair. With a small team ...

. During the

2021 Chilean general election General elections were held in Chile on 21 November 2021, including presidential, parliamentary and regional elections. Voters went to the polls to elect a President of Chile, president to serve a four-year term, 27 of 50 members of the Senate ...

, Al-Dailami endorsed Apruebo Dignidad candidate

Gabriel Boric Gabriel Boric Font (; born 11 February 1986) is a Chilean politician and the President of Chile since 2022. He previously served two four-year terms as a deputy in the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Chamber of Deputies. Boric first gained prom ...

. On the a press-conference on 23 October 2023 the

presented her new party BSW. Al-Dailami is one of the MPs who left The Left and joined Wagenknecht's party. This was announced that day. Ali Al-Dailami was running as top candidate for BSW Hessian at

2025 German Federal election The 2025 German federal election was held in Germany on 23 February 2025 to elect the 630 members of the List of members of the 21st Bundestag, 21st Bundestag, down from 736 in 2021 due to reforms in seat distribution. The 2025 election took plac ...

. The BSW received less than 5 percent and did not enter the Bundestag.

Personal life

Al-Dailami has eleven siblings, including half-siblings. He is an atheist.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dailami, Ali Living people 1981 births Members of the Bundestag for Hesse Members of the Bundestag for Die Linke German people of Yemeni descent Naturalized citizens of Germany German atheists Yemeni atheists People from Sanaa People from Giessen Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht politicians