First the split in the party, then the defeat in the European elections: The Left Party’s federal chairmen Martin Schirdewan and Janine Wissler announce their withdrawal.
The Left Party’s leaders Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan have announced their resignation. They will no longer be running for office at the party conference in Halle in October, as the two politicians announced in statements published on the party’s website. The background to this is the series of election defeats and growing criticism of the two leaders.
Wissler and Schirdewan have led the Left Party together since 2022. Before that, Wissler formed a top duo with Thuringian Susanne Hennig-Wellsow for a good year before she resigned. The party has suffered a series of electoral defeats. In 2021, it only entered the Bundestag with three direct mandates via a special rule. In the European elections in June, the Left Party received only 2.7 percent of the vote.
Schirdewan: “Partly destructive power politics”
“I perceive that there is a desire in parts of the party for a fresh start in terms of personnel,” Wissler wrote in her statement. “I believe that now is the right time to create clarity, two months before the party conference, so that the party has enough time for a transparent process and an internal party opinion-forming process on candidacies.”
In his statement, Schirdewan appealed to his own party members: “Give those who will soon take over the helm the chance and the confidence to be able to lead the party. This requires an end to the sometimes destructive power politics in our own ranks.”
Party leadership under pressure since the European elections
After the European elections, Schirdewan was self-critical about the election campaign. He recently told the “Tagesspiegel”: “No question: It went badly. There’s no getting around it.” In the newspaper interview, he already indicated that he was considering withdrawing: “I will let you know in good time whether I will run again.”
After that, pressure on the party leadership grew. “I’ll say it quite openly here, we need structural, political and personnel renewal,” said former parliamentary group leader Gregor Gysi, looking ahead to the party conference in October. Bundestag member Dietmar Bartsch made similar comments. Saxony-Anhalt parliamentary group leader Eva von Angern called on Wissler and Schirdewan to resign. Criticism also came from long-standing Bundestag member Gesine Lötzsch and the failed European candidate Gerhard Trabert.
Further setbacks loom
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.
The Left Party must fear further setbacks in the state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in September. In Thuringia, it achieved 31 percent in the state elections in 2019 and has Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow. There, its ratings have roughly halved in polls. In Saxony and Brandenburg, the Left Party is at around five percent in recent polls.
Declaration Wissler Declaration Schirdewan
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.
