Amira Mohamed Ali (; born 16 January 1980) is a German politician who served as a member 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 ...

from 2017 to 2025. From 12 November 2019 till October 2023, she was the parliamentary co-

chairperson The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

of The Left alongside

Dietmar Bartsch Dietmar Gerhard Bartsch (born 31 March 1958) is a German politician who has served as co-chair of The Left (Germany), The Left parliamentary group in the Bundestag since 2015. Prior, he served as federal treasurer of The Left from 2006 to 2009 ...

. In October 2023, she left The Left alongside others like

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 ...

to found a new party. Mohamed Ali is the chairwoman of the board of the

Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – Reason and Justice ( , BSW) is a political party in Germany founded on 8 January 2024. It has been described as a left-wing to far-left party with populist and nationalist tendencies. The BSW is sceptical of g ...

-Association which was founded to prepare a new party in January 2024.

Life

Amira Mohamed Ali was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and grew up in Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel. Her father is

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

and her mother is

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. After graduating from the

Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums The ''Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums'' ( ''Academic School of the Johanneum'', short: Johanneum) is a '' Gymnasium'', or grammar school, in Hamburg, Germany. It is Hamburg's oldest school and was founded in 1529 by Johannes Bugenhagen. The sch ...

in Hamburg-Winterhude in 1998, Mohamed Ali studied law at the universities of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

and

, where she began and completed her studies. She completed her legal clerkship at the Higher Regional Court of Oldenburg between 2005 and 2007. She was admitted to the bar in 2008 and worked as an in-house lawyer and contract manager for an automotive supplier until 2017. She is a member of

IG Metall IG Metall (; IGM; German: , "Industrial Union of Metalworkers'") is the dominant metalworkers' union in Germany, making it the country's largest union as well as Europe's largest industrial union. Analysts of German labor relations consider i ...

and the German Animal Welfare Association. Mohamed Ali is married and has lived in

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places * Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony * Ol ...

since 2005.

Political activity

Mohamed Ali has been a board member of the Oldenburg/Ammerland district association of the party Die Linke in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

since 2015. She ran for political office for the first time in the 2016 local elections on list number 2 in electoral district VI of the city of Oldenburg. In this election, the Left Party achieved its best result in a local election since its foundation. Mohamed Ali ran as a direct candidate for the Oldenburg-Ammerland constituency in the 2017 federal election. She was elected number 5 on her party's Lower Saxony state list and was elected to the Bundestag through that list. In the 19th Bundestag, she is a member of the Committee for Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection and the Committee for Food and Agriculture. She was spokesperson for

consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

and for animal protection of the Left parliamentary group in the Bundestag. On 12 November 2019, she was elected as

's successor–alongside Dietmar Bartsch–as co-chair of the parliamentary group. Mohamed Ali won in a competitive vote against

Caren Lay Caren Nicole Lay (born 11 December 1972) is a German politician (). She has been a member of the Bundestag since 2009 and has been deputy chairperson of the parliamentary group in the Bundestag since 2017. From 2012 to 2018, she was one of the d ...

, 36 votes to 29. In 2023, the dispute between left-wing populist and conservative Sarah Wagenknecht and the party leadership came to a head. As a result, Wagenknecht put forward the prospect of founding her own party. In August 2023, Mohamed Ali, who currently belongs to the Wagenknecht Group, announced that she would be stepping back from co-chair of the parliamentary group because of the dispute. She said that it was difficult for her to represent the course of the party board in the Bundestag.

Founding a new party and leaving The Left

Mohamed Ali was involved in the founding of

(BSW), a registered association with the goal of founding a new political party in Germany. Mohamed Ali serves as the chairperson of the organization. At a press conference on 23 October 2023, which announced BSW to the public, she announced that she had left

The Left party The Left may refer to: *Left-wing politics in general or to the following political parties: ** The Left (Bulgaria) or ''Levitsata!'' ** The Left (Czech Republic) or ''Levice'' ** ''Die Linke'', also known as The Left ** The Left (Italy) or ''La ...

Political positions

In December 2024,

decided to better protect the

Federal Constitutional Court The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inception with the beginning of the post-W ...

against political attacks. For this purpose, the structure (16 judges and two senates) was incorporated into the

basic law A basic law is either a codified constitution, or in countries with uncodified constitutions, a law designed to have the effect of a constitution. The term ''basic law'' is used in some places as an alternative to "constitution" and may be inte ...

. All parties (

CDU/CSU CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties ( ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian democratic and conservative political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social U ...

, FDP, A90/Greens, SPD, The Left) voted for the proposed action, except for the right-wing

AfD Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), ...

and the BSW. Mohamed Ali described the inclusion of the Bundeverfassungsgericht in the basic law, which can only be changed with a 2/3 majority, as "undemocratic" and "arrogance of those in power".

References

External links

Biography
at the Bundestag
Amira Mohamed Ali
at abgeordnetenwatch.de
Official website

Profile on the website of the Left Party faction in the Bundestag
* Jung & Naiv: {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohamed Ali, Amira 1980 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for Lower Saxony Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Female members of the Bundestag Politicians from Hamburg German people of Egyptian descent Heidelberg University alumni University of Hamburg alumni Members of the Bundestag for Die Linke

Amira Mohamed Ali Amira Mohamed Ali (; born 16 January 1980) is a German politician who served as a member of the Bundestag from 2017 to 2025. From 12 November 2019 till October 2023, she was the parliamentary co-chairperson of The Left (Germany), The Left alongsi ...

21st-century German women politicians People educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums