Political Gatherings - Wolf chosen as BSW's head: Moderator becomes third pick for the position
Katja Wolf, the former left-wing politician and current mayor of Eisenach, is gearing up to lead the Left Party's (BSW) campaign for the upcoming Thuringian state elections. This news was announced by the BSW's state executive board on Tuesday. It's expected that Steffen Schütz, the Thuringia BSW co-chair, will come in second place on the candidate list, while Steffen Quasebarth, a former MDR moderator who recently announced his retirement from the MDR and switch to the BSW, will land the third spot.
It's still unclear whether there will be one lead candidate or a candidate duo, according to Wolf. "We'll be running as a team," she said.
The list proposal will be discussed at a members' meeting on Tuesday night. The fourth and fifth spots on the list are being proposed by the state executive board for Sigrid Hupach, a former Links parliamentarian, and Frank Augsten, the former Green state party leader. The state list will need to be confirmed through elections taking place this weekend. Tilo Kummer, a former Links state parliamentarian, is also expected to nab one of the front spots on the list. Wolf declined to reveal any more details about the other list spots at this time due to ongoing consultations.
At the state party conference this weekend, the BSW plans to adopt a program for Thuringia. Schütz highlighted peace, education, a performance-oriented state, social justice, and economic common sense as key issues. "We need more citizen contact and less bureaucracy," he said.
The BSW is aiming to reform preschool education, as Schütz explained. "We need kids who have language skills when they start school." He is also against using phonics for learning to read and write, saying it should be replaced with proper reading and writing skills. In elementary school, traditional learning methods should be emphasized over digital devices.
Schütz revealed that the BSW wants to double its membership in Thuringia by the end of the year. Decisions on who will be accepted as a member in the state association are now being made at the state level instead of in Berlin. However, the final decisions still rest in Berlin for now.
Schütz noted that several members will be accepted into the party right after the party conference on Saturday. The BSW currently has 47 members in Thuringia, and they aim to have over 100 members by the end of the year.
Kummer, the BSW state treasurer, added that the upcoming membership applications will also play a role in the party's ability to nominate candidates for the state election. "I need at least three members in each state parliamentary constituency to be able to name a candidate for the Left Party alliance." However, it's likely that not every state parliamentary constituency will have a candidate from the Left Party alliance, Wolf noted. The new Thuringian state parliament will be elected on September 1st.
The BSW was established in Thuringia in mid-March. In the recent municipal elections, the party scored impressive results in some district council elections, and they even managed to elect a candidate as the mayor of Bleicherode.
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Source: www.stern.de
