analysis
The Left decides on its European election program in a disciplined manner, and there is great agreement: without the Wagenknecht camp, the Left appears liberated. But the party conference in Augsburg is not without excitement.
It is an image with a lot of symbolic power for the future direction of the Left Party: On Saturday, a butterfly strays onto the stage in the Augsburg exhibition hall. He is carefully picked up by a member of the party conference committee and taken off the stage. The preservation of creation is now at the top of the Left Party’s agenda.
The party appears liberated this weekend in Augsburg. Freed by Sahra Wagenknecht. She decides on her election program for the European elections in a disciplined manner. There is great unity. There are hardly any real substantive discussions about larger issues or close votes on amendments. The conflicts over the main lines no longer exist since Wagenknecht left the party.
Middle East debate ends with compromise
Only when it comes to the Middle East conflict does the party debate like the old Left Party on Friday evening. It becomes clear: This is where the wings in the party are furthest apart. On Saturday morning after the debate, party leader Janine Wissler explained that some statements and the tone “did not do justice to the suffering of the people in the Middle East.” Wissler was probably referring, among other things, to a delegate who had accused Israel of “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing.”
Already on Friday evening, the former Berlin Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer had told such delegates nothing. Lederer complained that some leftists did not understand the profound turning point of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel. There can be no doubt about the ideological foundations of Hamas. The references to the Nazi past are intentional. The attack on Israel was a “genocidal orgy of violence”. At the end of the debate there is a compromise proposed by the party executive. Both Israel and Hamas are called for a ceasefire.
excitement around Top candidate
It was only when the election of candidates for the European elections began that there was renewed excitement at the party conference. Party leader Martin Schirdewan suddenly has an opponent for first place on the candidate list. He uses his application speech to insult the party and praise Wagenknecht. At the end of his speech he announced his resignation. At times it is unclear whether he will still be allowed to run. In the ballot, the candidate receives around two percent of the vote and is ultimately escorted out of the hall by security guards.
Despite the excitement, the election for second place is actually the more important one for the party. There the Left is fielding the non-party Carola Rackete. The public knows Rackete primarily as a captain and sea rescuer who dared to confront the Italian authorities in 2019 because, as the captain of a sea rescue ship, she had brought refugees ashore without the permission of the authorities.
New narrative with risk
Rackete stands for the party’s new course like no other. The Left wants to be something like an improved Green Party. The new left-wing narrative is that they are the only party that is credibly social and ecological. The aim is to give disappointed voters from the SPD and the Greens a new home.
But the new course is not without risk: current surveys see the “post-Wagenknecht Left” as being below the five percent hurdle. The question arises as to how the Left Party wants to score points in the East with the West German sea rescuer Rackete.
Rackete is still at odds with the party she formed
And Rackete himself is also a risk. The top candidate has no experience in politics. She is also inexperienced in dealing with media. In an interview with “Zeit” this week, she is already making a big mistake. She allows herself to be persuaded to say that the Left needs to think more deeply about its SED past and perhaps also change its name. That doesn’t go down well in the party. At the party conference she has to apologize in her application speech.
With 77.8 percent, Rackete received a significantly worse result than party leader Schirdewan. And that despite the fact that she is running unopposed. There may also be a risk for the party in further media appearances. In an interview with the ARD capital studio She explains that the Left is the only party for which one can “barely” run.
Apparently she continues to be at odds with the party that founded her. But that probably won’t be a problem for you. There is no so-called threshold clause in the European elections. Even with an election result of around two percent, Rackete could enter the European Parliament.