BERLIN – A Syrian man who came to Germany as an asylum-seeker in 2015 and was running for a seat in parliament in his new country's September election said Tuesday that he is withdrawing his candidacy.
Tareq Alaows, who joined the Green party last year and was running as its candidate in a constituency in western Germany in the Sept.
26 vote, said in a statement that he made his decision for personal reasons. “The high threat level for me but especially for people close to me is the most important reason for withdrawing my candidacy,” Alaows wrote, without elaborating.
He also said he experienced a lot of racism during his campaign, which he started early last month. “My candidacy showed that in all parties in politics and across society,