Ex-group leader Wagenknecht wants to turn her party into a “popular left”. It should not be limited to certain milieus, but should be there for the needs of broad sections of the population. East Germany should be a focus. There is a clear opinion on war and rearmament.
On the left, a group led by former faction leader Sahra Wagenknecht is calling for the party to be realigned. “Things must not go on as before, otherwise our party will disappear into insignificance,” says the “Call for a Popular Left”. The party must work for the majority of the population and should not “narrow down to certain milieus”.
Even before the federal election, Wagenknecht complained in her book “The Self-Righteous” that many “lifestyle leftists” had lost their grip on reality and looked down on those who led a simpler or more traditional life. Similar motives can now be heard in the three-page appeal, which was signed by about 80 party members in addition to Wagenknecht.
It states that the party must be active for workers, families, pensioners and the socially disadvantaged. “It is our duty to reach out to the millions whose interests are being neglected and who are hoping for a betterment in their lives,” it said. “We have a special responsibility for the east of the republic, for regions that have been left behind and shaken by structural crises.” The left should not teach from above. It should also be a peace party that consistently opposes rearmament.
The appeal also distances itself from the “opportunistic pursuit of co-government at the price of abandoning left-wing goals.” “The central question is: Who are we doing politics for?” said Christian Leye, member of the Bundestag and co-signatory. “Basically, for the left, it’s about bread and peace, that is, about social justice and the rejection of rearmament and war. Everything else is optional. We have to go back to our core competencies, with which we were once successful.” The call is not a declaration of war and is not aimed at specific people. “This is our attempt to approach each other and help save the party.”
After a series of electoral defeats and internal disputes, the left is in crisis. She wants to re-elect her leader at a party conference at the end of June. Wagenknecht is one of the most prominent left-wing politicians, but is controversial because of the book, among other things. Some members had applied to be expelled from the party, but internal arbitration commissions rejected this.
The signatories to the appeal include co-group leader Amira Mohamed Ali, MPs Sevim Dagdelen and Andrej Hunko, peace activist Willi van Ooyen and publicist Luc Jochimsen.
