Sahra Wagenknecht’s new party: These are the three biggest problems

Opinion

Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. With this quote from the writer Victor Hugo, Oskar Lafontaine campaigned for a new political alliance in 2005: the left.

18 years later, his wife Sahra Wagenknecht is now running with a different political alliance. But the same claim. It is supported by an image film that the long-time left-wing politician has just posted on the short message service “X”. There, a country in a disastrous state is first described in gloomy black-and-white images and words, before Wagenknecht appears as a colorful figure of light and promises a better future.

Wagenknecht may have found a gap in the political market. For the project named after her, she combines left-wing positions in social and tax policy, such as the demand for a higher minimum wage, more pensions and a wealth tax, with conservative-right approaches, such as more strictly regulated immigration and the rejection of gender language. In this way she could collect dissatisfied people from all spectrums. Disappointed leftists and AfD voters, but also from other parties. According to surveys, she could win over ten percent. Even if that seems a bit exaggerated, there is a great longing among some people for a left-wing nationalist party, especially in the East.

The timetable is clear: After the party was founded in January, the aim is to take part in the European elections and then at least a few state elections in order to be sufficiently strengthened to move past the left into the Bundestag in 2025.

The plan could work

This plan could work. In the European elections there is no five percent hurdle and there is also less party loyalty in voting behavior than in national elections. This and the fascination that every new political project radiates should be enough to give Wagenknecht’s party its first success. The resulting euphoria could carry them through the state elections.

Nevertheless, there is much to suggest that Wagenknecht will fail in the end. Three problems in particular will bother her.

Sahra Wagenknecht cannot lead

The new party is completely geared towards them. What is Wagenknecht’s greatest asset is also her greatest risk. Wagenknecht is a charismatic politician and excellent rhetorician who knows how to win over the halls. What she is not: a good organizer or someone who can hold a group together. “Sure, I wasn’t born a group leader,” she herself admitted. As parliamentary group leader, she left this task to her co-parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch, while she toured the talk shows as the face of the Left.

That will not be possible in your new party. Even if she manages to gather a good team around her, she won’t be the one who can keep them united in the medium term. This is breeding ground for competition and intrigue. There is also the question of how resilient Wagenknecht is; she suffered a burnout four years ago. If it fails, a party that is completely centered on it will collapse sooner or later.

The new party will attract troublemakers

New parties are always magnets for troublemakers and confused minds. Who always feel misunderstood by everyone, but never ask themselves whether it could be their fault. Party congresses and meetings blow up by holding monologues for hours or making meaningless motions. For the federal election, Wagenknecht’s team now has to set up regional associations in all federal states. This offers plenty of scope for cross-shots and scheming games that individual associations can break down. Of course, the truth also means that it was no different on the left. The party only survived because it was often run tightly. Among others by Oskar Lafontaine.

In terms of content, the party is a projection surface

In terms of content, Wagenknecht’s project currently looks like a general store. This makes it the ideal projection surface. In the future, however, the ex-left will no longer be able to choose which topics to comment on. She will be asked about all topics. The decision will inevitably disappoint some supporters. It is also completely unclear how far Wagenknecht will reach to the right and how she specifically wants to differentiate herself from the AfD.

The euphoria of departure could be followed by disillusionment. Then you need leadership and perseverance. At least in her earlier project, the “Get Up” collective movement, Wagenknecht failed to prove either.