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MONIQUE FORD / Things
Ibrahim Omer (front left), with his campaign manager Rory Lenihan-Ikin (right) and community leader Adam Awad (back) at his favorite café, Peoples Coffee, in Wellington’s Newtown.
After a night of celebrations for Labor’s biggest victory in 50 years, incoming MP Ibrahim Omer spent Sunday afternoon with friends at his favorite Wellington café.
Understood as the country’s first African MP, Omer said it was a great privilege, one he did not take for granted.
Speaking from Peoples Coffee in Newtown, Omer, who is 42 on the Labor list, said he was eager to be part of a historic and diverse group.
With the majority of the votes counted, Labor appears poised to win 49 percent of the party’s votes, giving it 64 seats in Parliament.
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“We need a Parliament that looks like New Zealand and reflects the real New Zealand,” Omer said.
While there was still a long way to go to improve representation, Omer hoped to help close this gap.
The problems he would focus on in his new position were poorly paid workers, “it’s in my heart,” racism and unequal opportunities.
MONIQUE FORD / Things
Ibrahim Omer, left, will focus on the rights of low-paid workers, racism, unequal opportunities, and address issues faced by members of refugee and migrant communities.
He also wanted to focus on the problems that members of refugee and migrant communities may face. “I’ve always been passionate about doing things for communities.”
Omer would bring lived experience to his new role.
Originally from Eritrea, an East African country, Omer took a risk and fled to Sudan under a regime with a shoot-to-kill policy at the border.
If he had stayed, he could have become a child soldier or been imprisoned for refusing national service.
MONIQUE FORD / Things
Ibrahim Omer, a local from Newtown, is a popular figure in the suburb. He spent his Sunday with campaign manager Rory Lenihan-Ikin (back right) and community leader Adam Awad (back left).
In Sudan, she worked as an interpreter in refugee camps run by the United Nations.
After being detained on suspicion of being a spy, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees intervened and ended up in New Zealand.
After moving to Wellington in 2008, he worked as a cleaner.
In 2014, Omer began studying politics and international relations at Victoria University of Wellington, where he was a cleaning supervisor. He paid for his studies by working full time at night.
MONIQUE FORD / Things
Ibrahim Omer says it is a privilege to be the country’s first African MP.
A trade unionist, Omer has worked closely with E tū and played an important role in the Living Wage Movement. Omer was also Chairman of the Board of the ChangeMakers Resettlement Forum.
Omer was excited for what was to come. “Being the first African MP in history is a great privilege and comes with enormous responsibilities.
“This is a collective victory for all of us… people have put their faith in me and I don’t take that for granted. I will work hard.”
STUFF
Jacinda Ardern called for a “mandate to speed up” in her victory speech after Labor’s landslide victory.
