generational change - A 27-year-old leads in MV - Peter Ritter on pension
The Left in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has undergone a generational shift at the top. The 27-year-old political scientist Hennis Herbst from Greifswald was elected as the new Landesvorsitzend (chairman) at a party conference in Waren an der Müritz. He takes over from Peter Ritter. The 65-year-old, who led the regional branch from 2001 to 2009 and again since 2022, did not stand for re-election.
Herbst won against three other candidates and received 50 of the 103 votes, which is 48.5%. Herbst was previously deputy chairman of the party for two years and was elected to the Greifswald city council in the local election on June 9.
New chairman wants to reform The Left
The 27-year-old Herbst has a big task ahead of him. Membership numbers have been declining for years, and more than half of the members are over 70 years old. The party achieved its worst results ever in the European and local elections on June 9.
The processing of this disaster, as described by many speakers, took up a lot of space at the party conference. The long-standing internal party conflict had severely damaged the party's image in public, it was said. Voters could not see how the Left was addressing important issues and current debates.
Herbst: We must become campaign-ready
Herbst, who has a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Public Law and plans to pursue a Master's degree, tried to spread an optimistic mood. In terms of internal party structures, he wants to make them more robust. "We must become campaign-ready and be able to shape the work on the ground." This will be difficult in the face of dwindling financial resources, but possible.
"The Left is needed"
The Left is needed, Herbst said. We must fight for a social safety net, which will make Vorpommern a livable place, for employment and wage equality, for equality. "We are fighting for the people who are not born with a golden spoon," so Herbst at the party conference.
A central field for the Left should once again be peace policy. The party profile must be sharpened in this regard, Herbst said. The party conference decided to revive the tradition of the "East Sea Peace Conferences" in addition to the Peace Festival in Graal-Müritz on September 1. Before the federal election in 2025, the Left in MV plans to organize such a conference.
Peter Ritter's moving farewell
At the beginning of the party conference, the former chairman Peter Ritter gave a moving farewell speech. He is withdrawing from the regional political stage. The current deep crisis of the party has reasons that go back further than the past two years, he said. At the European election, the Left fell to 4.9%. In the local elections, it achieved its worst result ever with 8.8%.
"We must urgently find our compass"
The Left had become too self-satisfied after forming coalition governments in several federal states and winning landrat and Oberbürgermeister positions, criticized the 65-year-old. "We have lost our compass and must urgently search for it again." Important substantive issues had been sidelined. The separation from Sahra Wagenknecht took too long. That caused damage.
The motto must once again read "Act instead of Dithering" for the Left, urged Ritter. He advocated for transforming the remaining offices of the Left in the country into social support centers for people, as it had been in the 1990s.
At parting, Ritter, who had held prominent functions in the Landtag faction of the Left for many years, addressed his party: "Do well. Above all, do better." Then, the equally long-standing Left-politician Dietmar Bartsch embraced him.
- Hennis Herbst, the new chairman of The Left in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, hails from Greifswald.
- The party conference in Waren an der Müritz saw a Municipal election for the position of Landesvorsitzend, which was won by Herbst.
- Linking back to the party's struggle, the conflict within The Left has severely impacted its public image.
- In Greifswald, Herbst served as a city council member following his successful participation in the Municipal election.
- To revive the party's profile in peace policy, Herbst proposes the revival of the "East Sea Peace Conferences" in addition to the Peace Festival in Graal-Müritz.
