Election campaign: Left selects top duo for federal election

The Left wants to go into the federal election campaign with Jan van Aken and Heidi Reichinnek as the top duo. The party announced this at a press conference in Berlin. “We are going into this election campaign united and united,” said party leader Ines Schwerdtner. The federal executive board made this decision together with the state chairmen and the left-wing group in the Bundestag.

Reichinnek is chairwoman of the Left Bundestag group alongside Sören Pellmann. Van Aken, who is co-party leader, linked the decision on Platform X to a political demand. “There shouldn’t be billionaires. They didn’t earn their wealth, they took it away from all of us. Now we’re taking it back.” For this, this country needs a strong left.

On Saturday evening he had already posted a video of himself that was strongly reminiscent of the video of the Green Party politician Robert Habeck, with which he had announced his candidacy for Chancellor for the Green Party. In it, van Aken can be seen at a desk. Political demands such as the introduction of basic child welfare and the construction of more social housing are shown.

After the split from the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance (BSW), the Left is in crisis and in low opinion polls. Van Aken and Schwerdtner have only been in office for a few weeks. As of now, the party has to worry about returning to the Bundestag in a new election. Reichinnek said, however, that the party had recovered. “We are ready. All we can do is turn left after the traffic lights.”