The rejection of Bundestag member Sahra Wagenknecht for another left-wing candidacy sparked fresh speculation in Germany about a split in the party. Leftist leader Janine Wissler on Saturday criticized considerations to create a new party. Vice-President Katina Schubert accused Wagenknecht of working “for a long time on his own account” and against the party. The Wagenknecht supporters reacted sharply.
“The years of harassment by the respective party leaders against the most popular politician in their own ranks are now having consequences,” said Alexander Ulrich, member of the Bundestag. “I can understand why Sahra Wagenknecht is no longer willing to run for this left. Why would she organize the political survival of a party she fights every day?”
Former party leader Klaus Ernst, along with Wagenknecht, showed up demonstratively on Twitter, noting: “It’s a pity that my party is disappearing into political insignificance.”
Wagenknecht excludes “further candidacy for the left”.
On Friday it was announced that Wagenknecht no longer wants to represent the left in the German Bundestag. She told the newspaper “Rheinpfalz”: “I rule out going left again.” After the end of the legislature, she wanted to retire from politics and work as a publicist and author, “or something new will emerge politically”. . Wissler just said, “It’s your decision. I’m not commenting on that.”
It is clear that years of estrangement between Wagenknecht and her party preceded it. She joined the predecessor party PDS in 1991, sat in the European Parliament and has been in the Bundestag since 2009, sometimes as co-group leader. For the 2021 federal election, she dealt with a segment of the left in the book “The Self-Righteous” – the young, urban gender and climate activists. When it came to migration, Wagenknecht positioned itself against the party line, just like the Corona policy.
Offended by attitude to the war in Ukraine
Most recently, it was her attitude to the war in Ukraine that scandalized her own party. After a controversial speech in the Bundestag in the autumn, in which she accused the German government of an economic war against Russia, there was a momentary reflection on her expulsion from the parliamentary group or a split. The party leadership did not participate in their “Manifesto for Peace” written with the publicist Alice Schwarzer and a large demonstration in Berlin.
In the party, Wagenknecht is accused of going it alone, but also of “right-wing” positions – ie, which also find a place in the right-wing populist AfD. On the other hand, Wagenknecht is by far the best-known representative of the left. Polls show that she leads a party with 20 to 30 percent potential voters. It is completely unclear what such a party would stand for.
When Wagenknecht is asked about such a start-up, it has remained very vague for months. “This is being discussed in many places,” she now told the “Rheinpfalz”. According to her observation, it is a problem that many people in the current party spectrum no longer feel really represented by anyone. Her supporters are becoming increasingly clear and repeatedly hint that preparations are already being made. Deputy Ulrich explained that the support for the Wagenknecht-Schwarzer Manifesto shows “that the need for a party for peace, disarmament and social justice is more present than ever”.
The left could continue to lose voters without Wagenknecht
This is a dilemma for the left: although they would like to get rid of the constant stress with Wagenknecht, they could lose a decisive number of voters. She is already scratching minimally. In the 2021 federal election, the left failed the five percent hurdle and only entered the German parliament as a group, winning three direct mandates.
Wissler, who leads the party together with Martin Schirdewan, also called “flirting with new parties” unhelpful on Saturday. However, she also knows “no precise plans” and “no efforts to that end”.
Party chairman Schubert said of the possible Wagenknecht party: “Frankly, I don’t believe in it because it’s way too much work for her after she saw how she fell on her stomach with (the movement) ‘Get up’. But even if that if so, then so be it.” Wagenknecht launched the “collection movement” in 2018, but the venture never really took off despite its fame and popularity.
Schubert expressed his bitterness about Wagenkecht. Their “business model is to discredit and vilify people from the sidelines,” she said. “In this regard: a clarification might make some things easier.”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
