The new co-chairman of the Left Party, Jan van Aken, is taking office with a declaration of war on the rich. His colleague Ines Schwerdtner wants to make the party the voice of the East.
The journalist Ines Schwerdtner and the former Bundestag member Jan van Aken are the new chairmen of the Left. The new leadership duo was elected with a large majority at a federal party conference in Halle. Schwerdtner and van Aken take over the leadership from Martin Schirdewan and Janine Wissler, who are withdrawing after a series of electoral failures.
The Left Party is in crisis
The party is in an existential crisis after the wing around former parliamentary group leader Sahra Wagenknecht split off. It is also weakening in East Germany, formerly the heartland of the Left and its predecessor, the PDS. Nationwide, polls show the Left at three to four percent. The declared goal is to return to the Bundestag in 2025.
When he introduced himself, Van Aken said he wanted to give the country’s majority a voice and take on the “obscenely rich.” The left should give hope again. “I’m tired of telling people how bad things are for them,” said van Aken. He received 88 percent of 542 votes. A largely unknown opposing candidate, Emanuel Schaaf, only received 19 votes.
Schwerdtner had no opponent for the female position in the dual leadership. She received 79.8 percent of the votes. In her application speech she said: “We are the opposite of fear, we are hope.” What is needed for the left is clarity, focus and credibility. She wants a left that is also a voice of the East.
Source: Stern
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