There are “so many problems, uncertainty, but also indignation and anger,” said Wagenknecht in her speech to the applause of almost 400 delegates. “More and more people in our country have become politically homeless.”
The “policy of sitting it out and moderating away will probably not continue,” she said to the government coalition. The question is, “will the upheaval lead to new beginnings or to catastrophe,” added the 54-year-old, referring to the rise of right-wing forces in Germany.
She herself was “afraid of the AfD gaining strength,” said Wagenknecht. But anyone who really wants to weaken the party should also demonstrate for a minimum wage of at least 14 euros, higher pensions and affordable energy, she said, referring to the current demonstrations against the right. People should “ideally take to the streets straight away to demand new elections and an end to the unspeakable traffic light politics,” she added.
Wagenknecht spoke out against “economic sanctions that are ruining not Russia but the German economy.” To strong applause from the delegates, she called for the war in Ukraine to be ended “as quickly as possible” and through negotiations. War is also “above all a business” that involves raw materials, spheres of influence and arms sales. “That’s why we say no to war and no to arms exports to war zones,” she said, emphasizing a central principle of her party.
With a view to the Left Party, which Wagenknecht was a member of for a long time and which has been marked by years of strife, she called on the BSW founding members gathered in Berlin to show unity. “We are not Left 2.0,” she emphasized. This must also apply “to how we treat each other,” said Wagenknecht and appealed: “Let us treat each other with care.”
At the first BSW federal party conference in the afternoon, the European program will be adopted and the list of candidates for the European elections on June 9th will be drawn up.
cha/ilo
