Soon Bernese will elect their new cantonal government and parliament. But for one candidate for the Social Democratic Party (SP) from the city of Bern, the campaign could already be over two weeks before the election Sunday.
Mohamed Abdirahim, also known as “Momo”, is a long-time Juso member. He is vice-president of the Juso/SP parliamentary group in the Bern city council. Abdirahim was trained as a child educator, studied psychology and education and works as a youth worker, his CV says. But as the Bernese “Tamedia” newspapers report today, the 28-year-old made it all up.
A reader of the newspapers had come forward with doubts about the politician’s CV. Abdirahim was then confronted with the accusations. He admits that he made untrue statements because of “self-stigmatisation”.
When he joined the young party, he was ashamed to have broken off his training as a child educator: “For health reasons”, he explains. Dropping out of education was something “socially stigmatised”, says Abdirahim. So he invented a course of study.
Then he used the fictitious CV for election documents, portraits in the media and on the party website. He never hoped to benefit from it for the elections, he emphasises. But he should have just stood by it, regrets Abdirahim.
He is not considering resigning or renouncing his candidacy: “I want to encourage other people in comparable life situations and continue to actively work for a more open and understanding society.”
For its part, the SP Stadt Bern says it knew nothing about it and regrets the mistake. The Juso states that it does not condone the misconduct. The further procedure will be clarified with the Juso and Abdirahim within the party.
https://www.nau.ch/politik/regional/sp-kandidat-fur-berner-grossrat-falschte-lebenslauf-66128477