Saarland's BSW Chief Steps Down from Position
Here's a paraphrased version of the text:
At the start of the year, Sahra Wagenknecht established her party BSW. Now, the first resignation occurs: Jobst, chief of Saarland, steps down. The cause? Statements from a fellow BSW member regarding the AfD.
Merely three months after the Saarland branch of the new party Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht was launched, Randolf Jobst, Co-Chairman, abruptly quit his position effective immediately. He attributed his decision to statements from Co-Land Chairwoman Astrid Schramm concerning dealing with the AfD and the alleged lack of action from BSW on a federal level. The latter was confirmed later in the evening.
A few days ago, the former Saarland chairwoman Schramm told the Saarland Broadcasting Corporation (SR) about the AfD, "In the event of content overlaps, cooperation in local parliaments is possibly thinkable. The members on site have to decide. Coalitions I exclude."
Schramm's statements were startling for him and other leading figures in the Saarland state executive, stated Jobst to the dpa. He frequently asked the party leadership to make it clear that there should be no local-level cooperation with the AfD, but no such clarification was provided, so he felt forced to resign immediately. He intended to call it quits, said Jobst.
"Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht has always unequivocally stated: coalitions or cooperation with the AfD will not take place," said BSW General Secretary Christian Leye in the evening. "This is also the view of the Saarland branch." However, they would no longer vote against every AfD motion, even if it was contentually correct.
Not least, the European elections had shown that this strategy regarding the AfD had catastrophically failed, said Leye. "Exactly the same thing has made the other parties stronger in the past." Jobst had announced his resignation several weeks in advance. "We respect this decision and thank him for his work."
The Saarland treasurer of the BSW, Ralf Georgi, also thanked Jobst and added about his resignation, "We regret this decision and take note of it with respect." In regards to this step, it should be clarified, "that we reject a coalition or an active cooperation with the AfD."
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In response to Co-Land Chairwoman Astrid Schramm's remarks about potentially cooperating with the AfD at the local level, Randolf Jobst, the Co-Chairman of BSW in Saarland, resigned due to the party's alleged lack of action regarding this matter on a federal level. Following Jobst's resignation, BSW General Secretary Christian Leye reiterated that the party would not form coalitions or cooperate with the AfD, although they would no longer vote against every AfD motion, even if it was contentually correct.
