GERMAN parliament or Bundestag welcomed its first deaf lawmaker on March 21 in what was described as a historic moment by the house speaker.
According to a report by Associated Press, yesterday, Heike Heubach, 44, joined the parliament this week as a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left Social Democratic Party.
Coming from an industrial management background, she narrowly missed winning a spot in the 2021 elections but succeeded in taking over Uli Grötsch’s position, a fellow party member from Bavaria, who had recently become an independent commissioner focusing on police matters.
“Today we are actually writing history, if I may say so. We have the first deaf lawmaker who will work here for her constituency,“ parliament speaker Bärbel Bas was quoted as saying.
Fellow lawmakers welcomed Heubach, formerly an industrial manager, with applause and waving hands at the Bundestag.
Additionally, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) sign language interpreters were placed closely to Heubach to help her understand and communicate, by translating what fellow lawmakers say during parliamentary sittings.
When she speaks, an interpreter will then use a microphone to help others understand her while also working closely with the parliament’s stenographer.
According to the Bundestag’s administration, they also prepared her a special seat in the main meeting room with interpreters nearby which is uncommon for lawmakers without hearing impairments.
