According to the preliminary election results released early Thursday morning by Humboldt University in Berlin, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality received 149 votes and will have four seats in the student parliament.

The results represent a significant growth in support for the IYSSE among Humboldt University students. In the elections held in January 2015, the IYSSE received 1.83 percent of the votes and obtained one seat. In this year’s voting, held over two days on January 19-20, the IYSSE’s support rose to 6.04 percent.

Ten of the 17 student groups participating in the elections lost votes.

The largest candidate lists are the Independent Students (287 votes, 7 seats), the Left List at Humboldt – LiLi (256 votes, 6 seats) and the Social Democratic Party's youth organization Jusos (253 votes, 6 seats). The Association of Christian Democratic Students (RCDS) that stands politically near the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) received 150 votes. The Left Party's student organization Die Linke.SDS received 145 votes.

The IYSSE had placed at the center of its campaign the fight against the revival of German militarism and its ideological justification by right-wing academics at Humboldt University. It called for the building of a new anti-war movement based on the international working class on a socialist anti-imperialist program. In the midst of new military interventions by the Bundeswehr (Armed forces of Germany) in Syria and Mali and an aggressive anti-immigrant campaign in the media, the IYSSE’s policies have found a strong response.