She was only in office for a year: Susanne Hennig-Wellsow has resigned as co-leader of the Left Party. The comment columns in the newspapers speak of “ugly intrigues” and “blatant hatred” among the left. The press review.
The resignation of Linke boss Susanne Hennig-Wellsow on Wednesday afternoon was a big surprise. The 44-year-old, who, together with Janine Wissler, was elected the party’s first dual leader on February 27, 2021, gave three reasons for the step: her “private life situation”, “dealing with sexism in her own ranks” and urgently needed renewal of the party. In the federal elections in September, the left only achieved 4.9 percent and only retained its parliamentary group status because of three direct mandates.
The necessary renewal of the party needs “new faces,” explained Henning-Wellsow. She also criticized the fact that “dealing with sexism in our own ranks had revealed blatant deficits in our party”. The Left Party is currently being confronted with the accusation that the Hessian Left has been subject to sexual assaults for years. The former partner of co-party leader Wissler is said to have been one of the accused.
The press comments on the resignation of Susanne Hennig-Wellsow
“OM Media Group” (Vechta/Cloppenburg): “The resignation of Susanne Hennig-Wellsow as co-chair of the Left Party was long overdue. And that of her co-captain Janine Wissler should actually follow on foot. Both have steered the ship ‘Die Linke’ on the course to insignificance. At the latest after the gossip in the last federal election, the dark red duo should have taken off their captain’s hats.(…) The resignation is nothing more than an admission of complete political failure.The leftists were just as unable to push through grandiose announcements politically as they were under personal disputes of the ceiling. After almost 14 months of dual leadership Hennig-Wellsow/Wissler, hardly anyone needs the left any more.”
“people’s voice” (Magdeburg): “The waves that the suspicion of sexism in the Left Party initially triggered in Hesse are now sweeping through the federal party. While the party executive is trying to get things going with information, co-chairwoman Susanne Hennig-Wellsow throws in the towel. End, over. The resignation shows once again how the Left Party is dismantling itself in front of everyone. Hennig-Wellsow has been in office for just a year. The East Left had started in a double leadership with Janine Wissler from the West, after the Gregor Gysis and Sahra Wagenknecht’s withdrawal from top offices of the party to give direction and goal. That has not succeeded. Eternal squabbling and strife have worn down the Thuringian. The resignation exacerbates the deep crisis of the party. The left has been hanging in polls for weeks along the five-border threshold. She has just been kicked out of parliament in Saarland. And in North Rhine-Westphalia the next bankruptcy is already imminent.”
“Weser Courier” (Bremen): “The left is currently experiencing a crash that began years ago, but is increasingly gaining momentum. In current polls at federal level, it is only four percent. Already in the federal elections, it was only able to regain parliamentary group strength by winning three direct mandates Move in parliament. Nevertheless, from today’s perspective, autumn 2021 seems like a different time. At that time, the Dark Reds were traded as a possible governing party in an alliance with the SPD and Greens. Today, on the other hand, there is a risk of insignificance at the federal level – and the existence of an East German regional party.
“Badish newspaper” (Freiburg): “But anyone who is happy about the decline of the left should think about it. In parliament it is the only opposition party to the left of the traffic light. Such a voice in the democratic spectrum is not only justified, it is sorely needed.”
“Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”: “It was the revelations about what is possibly the biggest case of sexual assault in a party represented in the Bundestag that prompted its co-chairwoman Susanne Hennig-Wellsow to immediately withdraw from the party leadership on Wednesday. (…) In her explanation of the reasons After the resignation, however, she only gives soft, vague hints about the shortcomings of the smallest opposition party.In the assessment of the Russian attack on Ukraine, abysses open up in the party, in which even veterans and Putin friends like Hans Modrow are up to mischief. Not a word about dealing with each other, which is sometimes just as rude on the left as it is with the AfD. (…) Desperately, Hennig-Wellsow calls for a programmatic renewal with new faces. The appeal of the failed sounds like a last stand.”
“There is distrust, bickering and sheer hatred in the Left Party”
“Frankfurter Neue Presse”: Perhaps an internal intrigue is causing the sexism scandal to come to light right now. Because the left has never been so torn. Much internal criticism, little consensus characterizes the image of the party. It’s no wonder that their former voters are more likely to vote for the Greens, SPD or in the East for the AfD. However, if the left does not want to become a splinter party once and for all, a change of personnel at the top will not suffice. The party must agree on a common line, saying goodbye to errors and old habits and arriving in the modern world. ‘The heart beats on the left’ was the title of a book by Oskar Lafontaine. But it should also know why.”
“Central German Newspaper” (Hall): “Hennig-Wellsow is right when she says that renewal needs new faces. Since the disastrous federal elections and the state elections in Saarland, the reputation of both party leaders has been badly damaged. The allegations from Hesse are the final straw. In the past, both party leaders have had big ones Mistakes made. Hennig-Wellsow is partly to blame, but she also failed because of the structures in the Left Party, where ugly intrigues are not uncommon. The question of succession is becoming difficult: The left needs a leader who can tackle several crises at the same time – and has enough power to bring the different currents within the party on course.”
“Ludwigsburg district newspaper”: “There is distrust, bickering and sheer hatred between the different currents in the party. Great hopes were placed in Henning-Wellsow and Janine Wissler a good year ago. The unequal new leadership duo seemed predestined to pacify the left, reconcile the wings and to renew the party in terms of content and structure. But it didn’t work. With her resignation, Hennig-Wellsow increases the pressure on co-boss Wissler, who is herself counted by the scandal about sexualised abuse of power in her Hessian state association and around her former partner. There are some indications that Wissler will also not be able to remain at the top of the party. The party is facing another leadership struggle. At the moment it is difficult to imagine that the Left Party will be able to rise from the ruins that are left of it.”
“Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung” (Heidelberg): “Disputed, unsuccessful, disoriented: That is the left at the moment. The management duo, both in office for just over a year, have not managed to find a course. Disastrous election results followed. The sexism scandal is perhaps the least of the problems. Here, perpetrators and accomplices could be held accountable comparatively easily. It will be much more difficult to make it clear what the party actually wants to stand for. In any case, it no longer works as a pure protest party, the AfD is more successful there. The substantive debates have failed in recent years, however, also due to personal vanity. The name Sahra Wagenknecht stands for this. Or Oskar Lafontaine with his exit from the party shortly before the Saarland elections. At the moment, the attitude towards Russia needs to be clarified. Is that possible? Hennig-Wellsow’s resignation can certainly be seen as an admission that even she has lost faith in her party’s future viability.”
“What is this ‘left’ actually still needed for?”
“New Osnabrück newspaper”: “One resignation is not enough. If Susanne Hennig-Wellsow resigns as federal chairwoman of the Left Party, then co-chairwoman Nadine Wissler must also go. Together they set out to ensure a new start for the left. And together they failed miserably. The two have neither developed the charisma necessary for leading politicians, nor have they succeeded in building bridges between the party wings. Hennig-Wellsow also made embarrassing mistakes, for example when she was asked about foreign deployments of the German Armed Forces. And Wissler’s name is currently in context with alleged sexual assaults in the Hessian state party. Has it done too little against “toxic macho culture”?”
“Berliner Morgenpost”: “The erosion at the top of the Left Party only follows the erosion of the entire party. It was only thanks to three direct mandates that they got back into the Bundestag and didn’t really take advantage of this opportunity. The party is still deeply divided, and the remaining party leader, Janine Wissler, is standing at the center of an unsavory abuse affair. What is this ‘left’ actually still needed for? In the corona pandemic, the party wobbled around and found no independent line. Even when it comes to the important future issue of climate protection, the left has no recognizable profile of its own. The most striking unique selling point is rejection of the “war alliance” NATO. Here, too, the party has historically gambled away. Anyone who is as poorly positioned as the Left Party programmatically must therefore rightly worry about its future.”
“Märkische Oderzeitung” (Frankfurt/O.): “The left is struggling with an unresolved past and an unclear attitude to the future. It gives the impression of experiencing the party’s jointly driven decline. A defeat in the federal elections that almost led to the loss of parliamentary group status – and nobody takes over Responsibility. Not the party leaders, not the leaders of the parliamentary group – not even the federal manager who led the election campaign. They are all still there. But Oskar Lafontaine is gone, Sahra Wagenknecht has nothing to do with the party anyway, and the last GDR “Economics Minister Christa Luft has thrown in the towel. Even when the self-proclaimed Peace Party was asked about the war against Ukraine, she kept busy with herself, only to practice chaotic polyphony afterwards. The Left really are out of ideas for their role in the future.”
Source: Stern
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