After a year with serious election slippers, the left-wing faction in the Bundestag wants a comeback in 2023. A faction retreat rehearses harmony. But the split in the party is not off the table yet.
The left remains divided on important issues such as sanctions against Russia and climate protection. In Leipzig, the energy politician Klaus Ernst called for an end to the energy sanctions against Russia and urged his party to take a clearer position. Group leader Dietmar Bartsch did not agree with this demand when asked.
Both spoke at a meeting of the parliamentary group. Bartsch, his co-group leader Amira Mohamed Ali and party leader Janine Wissler spoke of a successful conference that should put the left back on the road to success in the next elections. Ernst and MP Sahra Wagenknecht, who temporarily took part in the exam virtually, called for more profile and other priorities.
According to Ernst, the fact that Wagenknecht could found his own party is not yet off the table. “In my view, there is no decision,” he told ZDF. Ernst left open whether he would join such a party himself. Wagenknecht had criticized the party leadership and line and made public considerations about founding his own party, but did not commit himself.
Ernst: “Sanctions aimed at their own population”
On the subject of sanctions against Russia, Ernst, who is chairman of the Bundestag Energy Committee, said: “I complain that we do not agree that we have to end these economic sanctions against Russia because they ultimately work against our own people and against the own industry.”
The fact that no more gas and oil is imported from Russia, “these are sanctions that are subsequently directed against the country’s own population due to high energy prices and increased inflation. Unfortunately, we don’t always have the same assessment in the parliamentary group.”
Group leader Bartsch said when asked whether Russian gas and oil should continue to be imported: “The fact that there is no gas from Russia was not a decision by the federal government, it was a decision (by Russian President Vladimir) of Putin and Russia. ” When it comes to oil, the left insists on securing the Schwedt refinery site in Brandenburg. The fact that replacement deliveries via Poland and from Kazakhstan have not yet been secured is a failure of the federal government, said Bartsch.
Wissler: Bring your own topics to the fore
The left had suffered a series of electoral defeats in the past year and had often argued publicly. Party leader Wissler, who took part in the Leipzig retreat as a member of the Bundestag, was confident. If the left puts its content forward, it will be successful again in 2023, she told ARD. When asked about Wagenknecht, Wissler said: “I can only appeal to everyone to fight for a strong left that is recognizable.”
She named peace in Ukraine, help for people with low incomes and pensions, redistribution, but also climate protection as the main content of the party: “We also need a force that consistently advocates climate protection policy, because the traffic light is really disappointing “said Wissler. Ernst, on the other hand, said: “We have to be careful that we are not only perceived as an environmental party.”
Since the very poor performance in the 2021 federal election, there are still 39 MPs in the Bundestag for the left.
Source: Stern
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