Gysi aims to bolster the left faction in the Bundestag through "Silverlocke"'s advocacy.
The Left party is uneasy about their upcoming bid for the Bundestag. Senior figurehead Gysi is banking on his "star power" to revive the party. According to his plan, not only himself but also Bartsch and the outgoing Thuringia Premier Ramelow should serve as the party's saviors.
Three seasoned celebrities of the Left are contemplating the "Greybeard's Charge" to secure the party's entrance into the Bundestag in the upcoming election. Alongside Gysi and Bartsch, Ramelow is also considering a run for a Bundestag seat. They will reportedly discuss the "need for a significant surge in our party's support" after the party conference, as announced by Gysi at the Left's federal conference in Halle an der Saale. If they agree on the necessity, they will execute the Greybeard's Charge.
This would mean that the three would "then throw their full weight" into the election campaign, Gysi clarified. "Each of them will strive for a direct mandate." The party needs to exceed the 5% threshold to regain faction strength in the Bundestag, Gysi said, who is currently serving as a directly elected MP for the Left in the Bundestag. This goal can also be achieved with three direct mandates. The 76-year-old has been in the Bundestag, with a short break, since 1990.
Loetzsch and Pau are calling it quits
Bartsch is also an MP, but he failed to win his constituency in 2021 and therefore joined the Bundestag through the party list. The 66-year-old has been an MP, with a brief hiatus, since 1998. He was the last party leader of the Left before the latter's faction split into BSW.
Ramelow continues to function as the managing Premier of Thuringia due to his party's losses in the state election. The 68-year-old has been a member of the Thuringia state parliament since 1999. From 2005 to 2009, he was an MP in the Bundestag, and then returned to Thuringia. Since 2014, he has been the first Left government head in a federal state.
Currently, the Left is polling at only 3-4% nationally. Two long-time reliable MPs, Loetzsch and Pau, have announced their withdrawal from federal politics. Loetzsch will relinquish her Berlin-Lichtenberg constituency to the new co-chair of the Left, Ines Schwerdtner - and there are rumors that she might challenge the chairwoman of BSW, Sahra Wagenknecht, in this constituency. She has set a target of six direct mandates for the next election. In the 2021 election, the Left secured three direct mandates - two in Berlin and one in Leipzig.
The Left party is aiming to regain faction strength in the German Bundestag by exceeding the 5% threshold, a goal that can be achieved with three direct mandates, as suggested by Gysi, who currently holds a direct Bundestag seat. Bartsch, along with Gysi and Ramelow, is considering running for a Bundestag seat in the upcoming election.
