Left vs. “Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht”: Both have recently gone their separate ways – and still sit together in the left-wing faction in the Bundestag. This won’t be good for much longer.
After the departure of Sahra Wagenknecht and nine other MPs from the Left, the Bundestag faction is discussing its own future. It is expected that the parliamentary group will dissolve in the next few weeks and that the Left will continue as a group in the Bundestag without Wagenknecht and Co.
When exactly this should happen is up for debate. Wagenknecht and her supporters could form their own group after the separation.
The former parliamentary group leader confirmed the founding of the “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance” around two weeks ago, which is set to become its own party at the beginning of 2024. According to surveys, this would have great voter potential. It is difficult to estimate whether it will make full use of it, especially since the program and personnel of the future party are open. The Left was recently polled at around 4 percent. She is hoping for a comeback after the end of the ongoing dispute with Wagenknecht.
More than 100 employees are worried
For the left-wing faction, which currently has 38 members, the division is a problem: without Wagenknecht and her colleagues, there is no longer enough for the minimum number of 37 elected representatives. As a group, parliamentarians have fewer rights than in a parliamentary group. There would also be less government support. Many of the group’s more than 100 employees could probably not be taken on. In order to avoid short-term layoffs, Wagenknecht and her supporters have requested to remain in the group for the time being.
However, this is likely to be short-lived, because politically the tablecloth between both sides has been cut. “It is completely clear to me that this is of course not a tenable situation,” said party leader Janine Wissler on Monday. “We now have to make the transition happen as quickly as possible.” Her parliamentary group colleague Susanne Ferschl said: “The parliamentary group is ultimately dead.”
Now it’s a question of when and how the decision to dissolve the group will be made. In fact, the die would have been cast if the majority of the parliamentary group rejected the requests from Wagenknecht and her supporters to remain. That could happen as early as this Tuesday, but a vote on November 14th is more likely. The party leadership would like to clear up the issue before the European Party conference begins on November 17th in Augsburg.
Two parties in competition
Former party leader Bernd Riexinger told the Germany editorial network a few days ago: “With the best will in the world, I can’t imagine that we would accept people who are so divisive back into the parliamentary group so that they can be thrown out of the parliamentary group again with a big bang in January “That would be crazy.”
Parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch had announced that the left-wing faction would “decide confidently and calmly.” Bartsch strongly criticizes Wagenknecht’s party project and calls it a political competitor. The future Wagenknecht party is scheduled to run in the 2024 European elections. It is unclear whether she will also run in the state elections in Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia next year.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
