Parties: Gysi and Bartsch call for “personnel renewal” of the Left

After the Left’s devastating election defeats, former parliamentary group leaders Gregor Gysi and Dietmar Bartsch are calling for a new start at the top of their party. “I’ll say it quite openly here, we need structural, political and personnel renewal,” said Gysi, looking ahead to the party conference in October. If we continue like this after the result of 2.7 percent in the European elections, it would “of course be a catastrophe.” Bartsch said: “The crucial question is really whether there is an alternative.” The party leadership reacted coolly to the move.

The Left has been led by the duo Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan since 2022. Since then, they have suffered a series of electoral defeats. After the poor performance in the European elections, Schirdewan had indicated that he was considering withdrawing at the party conference. “I will let you know in good time whether I will run again,” he told the “Tagesspiegel” last week. Schirdewan also stated that “business as usual” was not an option. He had already spoken of possible personnel consequences on election day.

“Personnel debate counterproductive”

However, Left Party federal director Katina Schubert criticized the timing of Gysi and Bartsch’s statements before the state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in September. “A personnel debate before the elections is counterproductive for support,” said Schubert. The party leaders had already agreed on a process with the state leaders “in order to arrive at a substantive, strategic and personnel setup with a view to the federal election at the federal party conference.” There is to be a meeting at the weekend to review the European elections.

Schubert passed the ball back to former officials such as Bartsch and Gysi, who had led the Left Party at different times. The Left’s problems are nothing new, said the managing director. “Everyone who has held responsibility in the party and parliamentary group in recent years or who has held it until recently should be self-critical instead of publicly attacking others. The motto now has to be more ‘together, less ego’.”

Gysi and Bartsch keep further candidacy open

Gysi, who has held various leadership positions in the SED/PDS and its successor parties since 1989, is not only considered one of the most high-profile Left Party politicians. By winning one of three direct mandates, he also helped to bring the Left Party back into the Bundestag in 2021 as a parliamentary group, even though it was below the five percent hurdle. Neither he nor Bartsch wanted to commit to whether they would run again in 2025.

That has not yet been decided, said Bartsch (66). It also depends on the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on the right to vote, said Gysi (76). The Karlsruhe judges are currently examining whether it is legal for the traffic light coalition to abolish the three-mandate clause. A ruling is expected this month.

The Left has been in a dispute over direction and in crisis for years. In October, the party lost one of its best-known politicians, Sahra Wagenknecht. She founded the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) and achieved 6.2 percent in the European elections. Many votes came from the Left. Wagenknecht scored points with her stance on the war in Ukraine: no weapons for Kiev, negotiations with Russia, a halt to sanctions against Russia, a return to direct imports of oil and gas.

In social and economic policy, Wagenknecht has adopted much of the Left Party’s approach, such as the demand for higher pensions, wages and health benefits. She is putting the brakes on climate, migration and social policy in particular – unlike the Left Party.