Politician vows to make a difference – at age 100
LISEL Heise celebrated two major milestones this year.
In March, she turned 100. In May, she won her first election for political office.
Heise is the oldest active politician in Germany, serving as a local council member in this western town of 8000 people known as Kibo.
Her story could have easily fed worries about the dominance of older generations in German politics: in what is one of the world’s most rapidly ageing countries, every third voter is over 60. And that’s raised uncomfortable questions about how democracy can work when one cohort gains overwhelming and long-term political sway over others.
“Demographics shape democracy,” said Wolfgang Gruendinger, 35, author of the book Old Geezers Politics. “In Germany, many older politicians cannot relate to younger perspectives on the world any more.”
But almost half a year after her victory, Heise is offering an example of how to avoid a generational clash.
Her top-priority proposals are about improving the lives of young people as much as older residents. She wants a youth centre and dance venue. She wants to cut down on cars and carbon emissions. She wants to reopen a shuttered swimming pool.
“When you imagine someone at that age, you might come up with the stereotype of a lovely, doddery and perhaps a bit indulgent elderly woman,” said Maurice Conrad, 19, the youngest councillor in the nearby city of Mainz.
“Instead, she was more like: if nothing changes, then I’ll just get involved myself and I’ll call the shots,” Conrad said. “That’s something you would usually call youthful and rebellious.”
On a recent afternoon, after refusing an offer to go by car, Heise bounded through the streets of Kibo on her way to the former pool.
Her father taught her how to swim when she was three, and he helped build the pool when he was a town council member. For decades, Heise – who briefly swam professionally before becoming a teacher – came to Kibo’s pool almost every day. When it was closed in 2011, it was a shock, she said.
“When I walked in the city, people would come up to me and ask: ‘Can’t you do anything about it?’,” Heise recalled, standing on the empty field where the pool once was.
At the time, she wasn’t sure what to do. She attended official functions as a concerned citizen but says the microphone was shut off when she spoke. She felt the authorities would not listen to her.
It was her son who suggested she run for office herself.
Heise joined up with the left-leaning “We for Kibo” political association, which sought to challenge the centrist coalition that had controlled town politics for decades.
How did she manage to win? “Many residents of Kibo,” she said with a wink, “were my students once upon a time.”
And now, Heise said, other town authorities had no choice but to take her seriously.
“It’s important to hit back sometimes,” she said.