The time for public reflection is over. On Monday morning, Sahra Wagenknecht presented her new project in Berlin. She wants to run in the European elections next year with the “BSW – Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht”. The star had reported some time ago that an association under this name had been founded in Karlsruhe, but until now Wagenknecht had always responded evasively to the possibility of founding a party.
Now she wants to report what she plans to do at the federal press conference. “It took so long because you can’t found a party alone,” said Wagenknecht. You need colleagues, a good team. At her side are now announced for the performance: a millionaire, a former parliamentary group leader and two men from North Rhine-Westphalia.
Who are the four and what do they bring with them? The star introduces you.
Anyone who didn’t yet know which side of the front the faction leader Amira Mohamed Ali, 43, was on in the constantly divided left got a good impression of it in June. At that time, the Left executive board had just asked Wagenknecht to return her Bundestag mandate and declared that it saw the future of the party without her. Mohamed Ali, a member of the Bundestag from Lower Saxony, immediately expressed his solidarity with Wagenknecht. She considered the decision to be a “big mistake and unworthy of a party that promotes solidarity and plurality,” she explained.
A few weeks later, Mohamed Ali announced that he would not be available as parliamentary group leader again. Their reason: dealing with Sahra Wagenknecht. Because no successor could be found at short notice, the new election scheduled for September 4th was canceled. Her term expires, fittingly, this week.
However, Mohamed Ali did not hold the office for particularly long. In 2019, the lawyer was elected as Wagenknecht’s successor at the head of the parliamentary group, which was a surprise at the time, as she had only been in the Bundestag for two years. Her previous topics: consumer and animal protection. Unlike Wagenknecht, Mohamed Ali has been open to a red-red-green coalition in the past. Otherwise, the relationship between the two is considered close. It is no surprise that Mohamed Ali is committed to the new party.
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This man is probably the most surprising supporter of Sahra Wagenknecht’s new party: The Karlsruhe entrepreneur Ralph Suikat was not previously known as a supporter of the left. The Baden millionaire, born in 1965, founded the company STP Informationstechnologie with a partner 30 years ago, which produces special software for bankruptcy administrators. He sold his shares in 2016 and has since invested in companies that are committed to sustainability.
Suikat has attracted attention for his commitment to initiatives such as “Fair Responsibility” or “Taxmenow” (Tax Me Now), in which millionaires campaign for a higher tax on the rich and social redistribution. Suikat has a special meaning for Wagenknecht’s party project. According to information from stern, their new club was founded in Karlsruhe solely because Suikat comes from the city.
From 2020 to 2022, Lukas Schön was managing director of the Left in North Rhine-Westphalia, the party’s largest regional association with around 8,000 members. It is the official home association of Sahra Wagenknecht. Although she has never lived there, she has always entered the Bundestag via the NRW state list since 2009. In 2021 she was the NRW Left’s top candidate for the Bundestag.
Schön threw the last federal election campaign for Wagenknecht, who would never claim to have a special talent for organizing. One can therefore assume that she wants to use Schön’s experiences for her future party’s European election campaign next year – and for party building.
The studied political scientist is a left-wing product. He joined the party in 2006, was active in the youth organization Solid, ran for office several times in local elections and in 2013 set up the constituency office for the left-wing Bundestag member Matthias Birkwald. He justified his departure from the office of state manager last year with the course of the federal party. They care too much about “identity political orchid issues”. This is also Wagenknecht’s favorite accusation.
In addition to Mohamed Ali, Christian Leye, 42, is the second confidant from the Bundestag who is supposed to present the new project at Wagenknecht’s side. They are two of an estimated up to 15 MPs who could leave the left-wing faction. The fact that Leye is there is no surprise either.
The career of the Bochum native is closely linked to Wagenknecht. Like Schön, he secured her position of power in the NRW regional association. From 2014 to 2021, the left-wing economist worked in her Düsseldorf constituency office. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2021 and is the parliamentary group’s economic policy spokesman. He is not the first former Wagenknecht employee to follow such a career path. Leye shares their controversial positions, and he also assigns the USA some responsibility for the Russian attack on Ukraine. He is considered an accomplished networker. In the new party he will probably be the one who is supposed to ensure that the party appears as united as possible.
