The BSW is now also represented in Rhineland-Palatinate. Its politicians are optimistic about the foundation – albeit in the absence of Sahra Wagenknecht.
The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) has founded a regional association in Rhineland-Palatinate. At the founding party conference in Kaiserslautern, the members elected the Bundestag member and former state chair of the Left Party, Alexander Ulrich, and Sina Listmann, who describes herself as a newcomer to politics, as the two-person regional chair. 44 of the 45 members eligible to vote voted for the candidates, with one abstention each. This is the tenth BSW regional association nationwide.
According to a spokesman, there were no other candidates for the two top positions. Wagenknecht, the party’s eponymous federal chairwoman, did not attend the party conference because of the parallel state elections in Brandenburg.
New state chairman: BSW has “nothing more to do with the Left Party”
“What we are presenting today has nothing to do with the Left Party,” said the new regional chairman Ulrich, who is also a member of the BSW federal board. The party wants to appeal to a broad range of society. “Among the members, too, there are many people who have come from other fields, including many people from professions that the Left Party has never addressed.” These include people from the middle of society – for example, entrepreneurs, journalists or doctors.
The new state chairwoman Listmann said that she had not been politically active before. She became a supporter of the BSW because of the issue of war and peace, among other things. “The appreciation of agriculture will be a major issue,” she said of her focus at the state level. “I bring the topics of agriculture, winegrowing, tourism and gastronomy as a niche.”
“I believe we are a party that tends to be left-wing or social democratic in terms of social and economic policy,” said Ulrich. On other issues, such as controlled migration or a critical attitude towards gender issues, the party tends to be more conservative. “We are left-wing conservative,” said Thomas Geisel, former SPD mayor of Düsseldorf and current European MP.
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Sahra Wagenknecht’s party sees itself at up to eight percent
“There are surveys in other West German state associations such as Hesse or Bavaria, where they are at eight percent, and I would also put us in the range that we are already between five and eight percent,” said Ulrich. “That’s why I see a good chance that we will enter the next state parliament.”
According to Ulrich, the BSW currently has 55 members in Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition, around 1,200 people have registered as supporters of the party. “We could have many more members, but our goal is to build up the party slowly and in a controlled manner,” said Ulrich.
Most recently, the regional associations were formed in Bremen and Lower Saxony. The BSW was founded as a federal party in January around the former Left Party politician Sahra Wagenknecht.
Source: Stern
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