New lawmakers make German parliament more diverse than ever

Germany's weekend election has made the country's lower house of parliament more diverse and inclusive than ever before

BERLIN -- Hakan Demir smiled broadly as he stood in front of Germany’s majestic parliament building Tuesday, his first official day of work as a national lawmaker.

“My grandfather would have been mighty proud of me, and my parents are proud as well,” Demir, 36, said, taking a moment to remember his family’s roots in Turkey, from where his grandfather came in the early 1970s as an untrained “guest worker” to help build roads and houses in Germany.

Demir, a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party, is one of hundreds of people who ran for Germany's 735-seat lower house of parliament with backgrounds as immigrants or parents or grandparents who immigrated to the country. The number who won Sunday has made the Bundestag more diverse and inclusive than ever before.

The chamber now includes at least three people of African descent — up from one in the previous parliament. After years of stagnation, the number of female lawmakers also has gone up again, including two transgender women.