Wagenknecht party competes in European elections
Experts predict that the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance" has great potential, particularly in the east. It remains to be seen whether it will run in next year's state elections. However, the alliance intends to stand in the 2024 European elections. The candidates for the list positions are still being sought.
The future party led by Sahra Wagenknecht is expected to field 20 candidates for the European elections in June 2024. The list of candidates is to be voted on at the founding party conference on January 27 in Berlin, said Amira Mohamed Ali, Chairwoman of the "Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht" (BSW) association, to Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.
It is likely that all list positions will be filled by external candidates or those who have just become party members, said the former Left Party parliamentary group leader. The nine-strong group of MPs around Wagenknecht will probably remain in the Bundestag.
However, this is not entirely certain. When asked whether Sahra Wagenknecht would be the driving force behind the European elections, BSW leader Mohamed Ali said: "That is still open and will be clarified by the party conference at the latest." Whether the new party will also stand in the 2024 state elections in Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia remains to be seen.
"Rather conservative"
According to Mohamed Ali, the party will pursue a more left-wing course in social policy as a "representative of the interests of employees" and "small and medium-sized enterprises".
She added: "When it comes to socio-political issues, for example the self-determination law initiated by the traffic light, where every person can arbitrarily determine whether they are male, female or diverse, regardless of their innate gender characteristics, then we are more conservative."
Party gets a different name
Wagenknecht herself made it clear on TV channel Phoenix on Friday that the party would only bear her name until the upcoming Bundestag elections. "After that, my name will no longer be necessary," she said. In the initial phase, the aim is to increase recognition value. Wagenknecht added: "I don't need it for my ego that a party is named after me."
Former Bundestag parliamentary group leader Sahra Wagenknecht left the Left Party in October with Mohamed Ali and eight other MPs and announced the founding of her own party in January. The association "Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht" is already collecting donations and preparing the organization.
In a newspaper interview, Wagenknecht confirmed that she would like to join her party in a federal government. "Whether we enter a government depends on the content," she said. Wagenknecht named the SPD and the Left Party as possible coalition partners. Wagenknecht ruled out alliances with the Greens and AfD. She said of the CDU: "We could have formed a good coalition with former Social Affairs Minister Norbert Blüm".
After Sahra Wagenknecht and her colleagues left the party, the Left Party has now dissolved itself - 18 years after it was founded in September 2005.
Read also:
- Year of climate records: extreme is the new normal
- Precautionary arrests show Islamist terror threat
- UN vote urges Israel to ceasefire
- SPD rules out budget resolution before the end of the year
The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, which includes The Left's former parliamentary group leader, aims to make a significant impact in the upcoming 2024 European elections. However, Sahra Wagenknecht's role as the driving force behind the European elections is yet to be decided at the party conference.
During the European election campaign, Sahra Wagenknecht's new party is expected to align itself more conservatively on socio-political issues, such as self-determination laws, upholding the traditional gender roles.
Source: www.ntv.de
