Mani Hussaini (; born 25 October 1987) is a Kurdish-Norwegian politician who was the leader of the Workers' Youth League (AUF) from 2014 to 2018. He is currently a member of parliament for Akershus since 2021. Born in a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

family in Syria, Hussaini came to Norway at the age of twelve when his parents applied for

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

. His father, an agriculture engineer, was active in the

Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (; ''Hizb Al-Dimuqrati Al-Kurdistani fi Suriya''), commonly known as KDPS, PDK-S or Elpartî, is a Kurdish Syrian political party founded in 1957 by Kurdish nationalists in northern Syria. The party is b ...

. The family first sought asylum in Sweden which due to the

Dublin Regulation The Dublin Regulation (Regulation No. 604/2013; sometimes the Dublin III Regulation; previously the Dublin II Regulation and Dublin Convention) is a Regulation of the European Union that determines which EU member state is responsible for the ...

planned to return them to Greece where they first had arrived.Miriam Lund Knapstad (17 October 2014
Wonderboy fra Jessheim
Aftenposten

at Internet Archive. The family then fled to Norway in 1999, where they were granted the right to stay in 2001 and settled in

Jessheim Jessheim is a town in the Ullensaker municipality in Akershus of Norway. History The railway station with the Jessheim station was built in 1854 as part of the Hovedbanen line from Oslo to Eidsvoll. The railroad had at the initial construction o ...

. Hussaini became a member of AUF in 2006 and later became leader of the

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

chapter. In the 2011 local elections, he was elected to the Ullensaker municipality council and Akershus county council for the Labour party.NTB (17 September 201
Hussaini ny AUF-leder
Dagens Næringsliv. He was elected as deputy representative to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

from

for the terms 2013–2017 and 2017–2021. He was elected a regular representative from the same constituency in the 2021 election. In September 2014, AUF's electoral committee nominated him to become the new leader of AUF after

Eskil Pedersen Eskil Pedersen (born 6 March 1984 in Skien) is a Norwegian politician and former leader of the Workers' Youth League (AUF) from 2010 to 2014, the youth organisation associated with Norway's leading Labour Party. Pedersen survived the massac ...

. The nomination led to harassing comments on various internet sites based on Hussaini's ethnic background and a person who suggested the electoral committee should be executed was reported to the police. On 19 October, Hussaini was unanimously elected new leader at the league's congress in Oslo. He has named environment and economic equality as two prime political issues. He did not seek re-election in 2018 and was succeeded by his deputy, Ina Libakk. He studied innovation and technology at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hussaini, Mani 1987 births Living people People from Jessheim Labour Party (Norway) politicians Akershus politicians Deputy members of the Storting Syrian Kurdish people Syrian refugees Refugees in Norway Syrian emigrants to Norway University of Oslo alumni Members of the Storting 2021–2025