In the congress center of the Erfurt trade fair, the left meets for the federal party conference at the weekend. It remains to be seen whether they will come together. Talking is enough.
Before the federal party conference in Erfurt, the left-wing European politician and candidate for the presidency, Martin Schirdewan, appealed to their own ranks to concentrate on the essentials.
“We mustn’t get bogged down in small things at the weekend, but have to see how we can make the difficult circumstances in the here and now easier for people,” said Schirdewan of the dpa. “Because that’s the task of a left-wing party, not self-employment.”
Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) made a similar statement. “The left must think carefully about how long they can afford this unproductive self-employment,” he told the “Rheinische Post” and the Bonn “General-anzeiger”.
The parliamentary group leader of the left in the Bundestag, Dietmar Bartsch, told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”: “The party conference is the chance to start a comeback for the left.” The signal must be: “We understand, we pull ourselves together.”
Party is in crisis
The left meets until Sunday to elect a new party leadership and clarify contentious issues, including the position on the Ukraine war and Russia. Because of electoral defeats, public disputes and accusations of sexism, the party is in a deep crisis. This also tears financial holes because fewer state subsidies flow to parties if votes are lost.
According to official calculations by the Bundestag, the left was entitled to almost 1.6 million euros less in 2021 than in the previous year. According to the Bundestag, the “absolute final upper limit” for state party financing for 2020 for the left was 14.17 million euros, for 2021 it was around 12.6 million euros. In 2022 she will have further losses. While the advance payments from the federal government to the party in 2021 were around 3.21 million euros per quarter, they are now 2.82 million euros.
“Put the watering can aside”
The party is trying to regain its footing. Leaders are calling for a return to social policy and the interests of poorer people. Schirdewan said the federal government must “put the watering can aside” and, above all, permanently relieve small and medium-sized incomes from the rising prices.
“I’m calling for a social climate bonus of at least 1,500 euros a year and a cap on energy prices,” he said. According to him, this would be affordable, among other things, with an excess profit tax, with which “the extra profits of the oil companies” are skimmed off.
At the beginning of the party conference today, the incumbent party leader Janine Wissler, who is again running for office, speaks. The speech will be followed by a discussion of the lead motions. The evening will be about the “fight against patriarchal power structures, violence and sexism”. The board election is scheduled for Saturday. The former group leader Sahra Wagenknecht will be absent in Erfurt. According to her own statements, she cannot participate due to illness.
Source: Stern
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