The Wagenknecht party is getting closer to power – and is naming its price

There are still autumn holidays in Saxony. And because this is the case, there is currently no talk about a possible new state government, at least not officially. The so-called introductory talks between the CDU, the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) and the SPD are paused for two weeks. It won’t finally start again until next Monday, just in time for the start of school.

At least CDU Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer took advantage of the interruption. In a guest article in the “FAZ” he called for “more visible diplomacy” from the federal government for a ceasefire in Ukraine. In addition, the traffic light should have “better explained and discussed more broadly” the planned stationing of US medium-range missiles in Germany.

Now there was little new about it. Kretschmer had already announced similar things several times, to the chagrin of the CDU leadership in Berlin. What was interesting about it, however, was that the names of the Brandenburg SPD Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke and the Thuringian CDU state leader Mario Voigt were also above the text. Like Kretschmer, the two depend on the BSW in order to be able to form a state government.

The formation of this very special community of needs left no doubt that it was a political greeting of love to Wagenknecht. After all, the party founder had already said no to arms deliveries and missile deployment as a condition for possible government participation during the election campaign.

The signal from Kretschmer, Woidke and Voigt met with the desired friendly response at the BSW, not only from Wagenknecht, but also from the Saxon BSW boss Sabine Zimmermann. The text is “a good basis for possible discussions about government participation,” she told the star. “However, this needs to be formulated more precisely for a coalition agreement with the BSW,” she added. “This can only be a start.”

That is also the view at party headquarters. What Kretschmer, Woidke and Voigt had formulated were not yet BSW positions, it was said in Berlin. It is not enough to simply criticize the lack of debate on missile deployment. The majority of people in the East reject rearmament as a whole, and this must also be reflected in later coalition agreements.

There are still arguments, especially in Saxony

The strategic calculation behind it remains as obvious as it has been in recent months: Realpolitik compromises in the states could endanger the radical populist course in the federal government – and thus the far from certain success in the federal election next year.

This means that the BSW is not yet certain to participate in government, especially not in Saxony. Although the constitution requires the new state government to be in place by the end of December, those involved are taking plenty of time. And they argue.

In order to get to the top of the state parliamentary group, BSW state chairwoman Zimmermann first had to take part in a vote against her co-party leader. Then her group submitted a proposal for a Corona investigative committee without having finally agreed the paper with the CDU and SPD. And finally, when the parliament was constituted, the BSW candidate for the office of vice president needed two ballots – and the SPD candidate even needed three.

Zimmermann sees the blame for this on Prime Minister Kretschmer’s party. “The CDU could have saved itself the power games over the vice president,” she says. “We need a new style of politics in Saxony.” At the same time, however, she spreads optimism: “The introductory discussions are going better than it sometimes seems.”

The fact that Zimmermann is concerned about appearances may also have something to do with the fact that things are going somewhat better in the other two countries in which the BSW is moving to power. Even in Brandenburg, where the state parliament was elected three weeks later than in Saxony, the would-be partners have moved on. The first exploratory discussion between the SPD and BSW has taken place – and everyone is sticking to the agreed secrecy.

And in Thuringia, a country of political chaos, a government could even be formed as early as November. Although the CDU, BSW and SPD only have half of the state parliament seats and therefore cannot form a real majority government, the exploratory talks are scheduled to end this week and formal coalition negotiations can then begin. In addition, the application for a Corona investigation committee was submitted to the state parliament jointly by the BSW and CDU.

Thuringia’s SPD leader Maier is under pressure

However, Thuringia’s SPD leader Georg Maier is still under pressure from the left wing of the party, which is skeptical about the BSW. The Jusos even made a resolution against participating in the government. Accordingly, Maier loudly complained about the text by his party colleague Woidke as well as Kretschmer and Voigt as “not making sense”.

The CDU and SPD now know quite well that the price of the BSW will not be limited to a few vague formulations in the preamble to the coalition agreement. And then there is also the left, which at least needs to be taken into account in the Thuringian stalemate. Your acting Prime Minister has developed his own thesis about what Wagenknecht plans to do in the three countries.

Of course, no one can object to peace or more diplomacy, Bodo Ramelow told him star. But the central question is different: “What exactly does a state government have to do with the issue of defense and alliance issues or votes in the Federal Council?”

His answer: “Basically nothing.” Unless, says Ramelow, the BSW is planning the same strategy as SPD chairman Oskar Lafontaine once did in the 1990s, when he orchestrated a social democratic state front against the then black and yellow federal government: “You take the Federal Council hostage against the federal government .”

Of course, this is quite a stretch, especially since Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg together only have 12 of the 69 votes in the Federal Council. But Ramelow probably doesn’t just have voting mathematics in mind when he thinks about it. After all, as is well known, Wagenknecht’s husband and most important advisor is called Oskar Lafontaine.