The Left wants to be heard as a social opposition. For the election campaign, the party is also announcing a tough course against the traffic light government, which is low in the polls.
The Left wants to sharpen its profile as a party of social justice and get out of the crisis before the state elections in the east. The federal chairmen Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan discussed their future strategy in the election year with the state chairmen and the board of the Bundestag group on Sunday in Templin, Brandenburg.
The Left wants to put more focus on “bread and butter issues” again, said Schirdewan, mentioning, among other things, rent, energy and food costs. The transport transition and health care were also among the left’s central election campaign issues. The party is in crisis after the wing around Sahra Wagenknecht split off and is polling at 3 to 4 percent nationwide.
The party must make it clear that it has solutions for the problems of the people in the country, said Brandenburg state chairman Sebastian Walter. A new state parliament will be elected in Brandenburg on September 22nd, previously in Thuringia and Saxony. The party leadership and the Bundestag group also wanted to send a signal of unity at their strategy meeting.
Party leader Wissler told the dpa that the Left wanted to put social justice at the center. “After the European elections, we have three state elections in East Germany, where the shrinking of public services is particularly noticeable. This is pushing many people to their limits and damaging social cohesion.” The Left calls, among other things, for hospitals and care facilities to be returned to non-profit ownership and for profit distributions to shareholders to be banned. “We are taking on those who withdraw profits from the health system and other areas of public services instead of improving people’s quality of life in everyday life,” said Wissler.
Focus on the government instead of Sahra Wagenknecht
In the election campaign, the chairwoman does not see the newly founded Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) as the actual opponent. The Left wants to concentrate on the federal government, “which is driving the country against the wall in terms of social policy,” said Wissler. “The fact that people have no trust in politics is also due to the great disappointment of the previous traffic light policy. The federal government started with big promises and is leaving behind a pile of rubble and unfinished tasks for the majority of society.”
The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) wants to run in the state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Bandenburg in September. According to an election survey from March, the Left in Saxony would get 5 percent of the vote, the BSW would get 11 percent. The alliance wants to form in Brandenburg in May. In the state, the Left most recently got 6 percent in the Sunday question.
Source: Stern
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