He is the first migrant to be elected to the Basel’s top office.
Bulent Pekerman, a 45-year-old Kurdish politician with the Green Liberal Party of Switzerland (GLP), has been elected president of the Basel Canton in Switzerland, Pakerman got 87 votes out of 99 votes.
Pekerman replaced Jo Vergeat (GAB) as the newly elected president of the Grand Council in Basel Canton, he is the first migrant to take the office.
The president elect was a member of the Basel Regional Supreme Council in 2021 and a member of the Basel Regional Parliament from 2009 to 2013. He is currently elected president of the region for a one-year term, effective February 2023.
Bulent Pakerman has been living in Switzerland since he was 15 years old, he is from northern Kurdistan.