The Left Party meets for the federal party conference
More profile, less dispute: Following the break with the party wing around Sahra Wagenknecht, the Left Party is seeking a way out of its deep crisis at a party conference in Augsburg. The actual topic of the meeting until Sunday is the European elections in June. Party leader Martin Schirdewan and refugee and climate activist Carola Rackete are to head the list of candidates. Even more important to the party leadership is the message that the Left has a future at all.
"We want this party conference to send out signals of renewal," said co-chair Janine Wissler a few days ago. Schirdewan told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper that the crisis phase was "spilt milk" for him. "The chapter is over for us. We are now starting a new one." Schirdewan had previously stated that "a few nice things have been prepared" for the party conference. These include a new logo design.
New members
New members will also be presented in Augsburg. "We will be able to welcome other well-known new members at the party conference," Schirdewan told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper. The Left Party is taking heart from the fact that hundreds of people have joined in recent weeks.
"At the moment, we have around twice as many new members as people leaving," emphasized Schirdewan. In the Stuttgarter Nachrichten and Stuttgarter Zeitung newspapers, he called on people to join the Left Party. "Join us again, join us in making policy for social justice, solidarity and peace. The party is looking forward to getting back on the offensive with new strength and many new members."
Less political clout
Former parliamentary group leader Wagenknecht and nine other members of the Bundestag resigned on October 23 and announced the founding of a rival party called "Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht" for January. As a result, the parliamentary group will lose its minimum size and will be dissolved on December 6. As a group in the Bundestag, the remaining 28 Left Party MPs are likely to have less political clout.
In the 2021 Bundestag elections, the Left Party only entered parliament in the size of a parliamentary group thanks to a special regulation that allowed it to win three direct mandates. Since then, the party has failed in several state elections. Nationwide poll figures have fluctuated between 4 and 5 percent for months. In contrast, the Wagenknecht party, which has not even been founded yet, achieves 12 to 14 percent when asked about future election intentions - even if these figures are not yet very meaningful.
Courting the disillusioned with the Greens and SPD
The Left Party therefore faces the difficult task of somehow asserting itself in the party spectrum. After all, it still had a good 54,000 members at the end of 2022. Following the break with Wagenknecht, who no longer represented the majority opinion of the Left on the issues of migration, climate protection and the war in Ukraine, the party leadership now also sees more room for maneuver in terms of content. It is courting activists from left-wing movements and disappointed supporters of the Greens and SPD with a course in favor of strict climate protection and a generous asylum policy.
This is symbolized by the planned nomination of activist Rackete, who is to become the European lead candidate alongside Schirdewan, but is not a member of the party herself. The captain became known as a sea rescuer in the Mediterranean. The "doctor of the poor" Gerhard Trabert, once the Left's presidential candidate, also wants to enter the European Parliament for the party.
Wissler: "A clear strategy"
"We have a clear strategy: we want a social, democratic and peaceful Europe," said Wissler this week. "The redistribution of property and wealth is the core brand and unique selling point of the left." And addressing Wagenknecht, Wissler also said a few days ago: "We are the only relevant left-wing party in Germany."
Shortly after the opening of the party conference in Augsburg, Schirdewan will speak in the afternoon. This will be followed by a general debate lasting several hours. The meeting will last until Sunday.
- Despite the departure of Sahra Wagenknecht and her followers, the Left Party is optimistic about its future, as evident in the addition of new members and the preparation of new initiatives at the party conference, such as the unveiling of a new logo design and the nomination of climate activist Carola Rackete as a European elections candidate.
- The Left Party aims to regain its political clout following the European elections, and with its focus on strict climate protection, a generous asylum policy, and courting disillusioned supporters of the Greens and SPD, it aspires to position itself as the only significant left-wing party in Germany, as co-chair Janine Wissler recently asserted.
Source: www.dpa.com
