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Syrian-born refugee Mani Hussaini is set to become the leader of Norway’s Workers’ Youth League (AUF), three years after far-right nationalist Anders Behring Breivik killed scores of members of the AUF.
The electoral committee of the Labor Party’s Youth Wing nominated 26-year-old Hussiani on Wednesday to take over from Eskil Pedersen, who will not stand for re-election.
On July 22nd, 2011, a gathering of youths from the organization ended in a bloodbath when Breivik shot dead several members to fight multiculturalism and “a Muslim invasion”. Seventy-seven people, most of them teenagers, were killed that day on the Utoeya Island near capital city Oslo, where the group was holding a summer camp, and in Oslo itself, where he had detonated a bomb which killed eight people. 35-year-old Breivik is currently serving a 21-year jail term, which may be extended further.
Syrian Kurd Hussaini, who now has dual nationality, had fled to Norway almost fourteen years ago and has said that he is not religious.
“It’s an asset to come from Syria because it gives me different perspectives than those I would have if I was born in Norway. In Norway, freedom and democracy for example seem obvious, but that’s not the case in Syria”, Hussaini said.
“I’m like any other Norwegian youth, but have enough with me some other perspectives on freedom and democracy in luggage. Syria and Norway are two very different countries. My family came as political refugees to Norway, and it has always been political conversations around the dinner table”, he said.
“Eskil was a strong and unifying leader when AUF were at their most vulnerable. There is no denying that it’s difficult situation. For AUF, the goal is to take Utøya back, and I will listen carefully to the support group and other interested and hope to contribute to a collective solution”, he added.
His formal designation as the AUF’s President is expected to take place during the October 16-19 general assembly.
