According to media reports, left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht has finally decided to found her own party. This was reported by “Spiegel” and ZDF.
On Monday, Wagenknecht will first publicly present the founding of the association “BSW – For Reason and Justice”, wrote the “Spiegel”. This association is considered a kind of preliminary step to founding a party and is already registered. The abbreviation stands for “Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht,” wrote “Spiegel”.
The magazine cited sources from Wagenknecht’s environment. ZDF also initially did not name a source. When asked by the German Press Agency, Wagenknecht’s office said it could neither confirm nor comment on the report. dpa learned from Wagenknecht’s environment that the decision to found a party had been in the making for some time. On Monday, Wagenknecht will announce the “next decisive step.”
Wissler accuses Wagenknecht of an “ego trip”.
The Left co-party leader Janine Wissler sharply criticized the apparently planned re-foundation of the party. Wissler spoke in the ARD “Tagesthemen” of an “ego trip” by the left-wing politician. “In view of the devastating politics of the traffic lights,” a left-wing member of the Bundestag must oppose the federal government and present alternatives.
Wissler appealed to MPs who could join a possible new party to return their Bundestag mandates. It would be “indecent” to take away these mandates that were won on the basis of the Left’s program. If Wagenknecht founded her party and left the parliamentary group with her supporters, the parliamentary group status of the current 38 Left MPs would be lost. With fewer than 37 mandates they would lose their status as a parliamentary group.
Divided with the left
Wagenknecht himself has repeatedly said in recent months that a new party is necessary. However, she has so far shied away from making a public statement. She has divided content with the Left on important issues such as migration and climate policy. She recently said publicly that her connection with the left was over for her. A party expulsion process is underway against her.
This possible party formation is generating so much interest because it could shift the political landscape. Pollsters give a Wagenknecht party comparatively high potential. In a YouGov survey at the end of September, almost one in three eligible voters (29 percent) in the east of the country said that they could basically imagine voting for a new party led by Wagenknecht. In the West it was 19 percent.
What should the party see?
However, such surveys say little about how many people would actually make this decision. It is also not entirely clear what the party should stand for. Wagenknecht has positioned herself as a sharp critic of the federal government’s Ukraine policy. She is also against strict climate protection policies and for limiting migration. She has repeatedly described the Greens as the most dangerous party.
Political scientists assume that their project could also steal votes from the AfD. The right-wing party hopes to win state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg for the first time in Germany next year.
The most prominent face of the party
Wagenknecht was one of the most prominent figures on the left for decades. She joined the SED before the collapse of the GDR and then became involved in the successor party PDS and finally in the Left. Four years ago, she withdrew from the post of parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag after internal party struggles and burnout. Nevertheless, Wagenknecht remained the most prominent face of the party and repeatedly publicly overshadowed the actual leaders of the Left with appearances on talk shows and books.
Left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch described the planned founding of a new party as “irresponsible given the social situation and the situation of the left”. Barsch told the “Rheinische Post” that it would be “immoral” for Wagenknecht to take mandates that she had acquired through the Left. Wagenknecht’s step would mean “that there would no longer be a faction. But it doesn’t mean that the left would be at the end.” The left remains a social opposition. Wagenknecht’s party “is then a competitor. Nothing more and nothing less.”
Former Left party leader Bernd Riexinger told the news portal “The Pioneer”: “It’s a liberation for the Left.” This marks the end of “a long, painful process” for his party. The clarity now ensures that Left voters now know again “what the Left wants and is doing for them”. Riexinger added: “Everyone who was prevented by Ms. Wagenknecht from voting for us or even becoming a member is warmly invited.”
