First the split in the party, then the EU election defeat: The Left Party’s federal chairmen Martin Schirdewan and Janine Wissler announce their resignation. They do not hold back on (self-)criticism.
The Left Party 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. They informed the executive board of this on Saturday. The background to this is the series of election defeats and growing criticism of the two leaders. The split from the Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) alliance also weakened the party.
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 got into 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.” To do this, he said, there needs to be 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.
Wissler looks back on an exhausting time
It is about developing the left into a “strong socialist force,” Schirdewan wrote in his statement. He described who the left is particularly committed to: “For our class, the dependent employees, for the many people who were born without a silver spoon in their mouths.” He accused the traffic light government of, among other things, failing “in the face of out-of-control crisis capitalism, inflation, inequality and wars.”
Wissler described her time at the top of the party as exhausting. “The density of appointments, seven-day weeks, long days and constant availability that come with being party chairwoman increase significantly in times of crisis. There were weeks in which I spent 25 hours in internal (crisis) meetings.” As a result, she was not able to spend enough time on the ground or think beyond the day. The Left must focus on “the class question.”
Disputes over direction for years
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 last two years have been characterized within the party primarily by the resolution of old conflicts and the upheavals and disputes that have come with them,” wrote Schirdewan. “This has often hindered our public impact, sometimes counteracting it.” He admitted: “Even after the split, we have been too slow in tackling the necessary substantive developments.”
In her statement, Wissler raised the question of whether the split could have been prevented. “No. Only at the price of no longer being a left-wing party.” With the knowledge she has today, however, she would have made some decisions differently. Since then, there have been thousands of new members, which gives her hope. “But the result of the European elections and the polls in East Germany show how difficult it is to regain lost trust and that we have a long way to go.”
Further setbacks loom
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.
Schirdewan announced that he now wants to concentrate on his work as leader of the Left Party in the European Parliament. Wissler wants to continue as a member of the Bundestag for Hesse.
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.
