He is one of the best-known left-wing politicians and has been his parliamentary group’s foreign policy spokesman for a good three years: Gregor Gysi is now stepping down from this position – starting next week. He did not give any reasons for this.
Left-wing politician Gregor Gysi resigns as foreign policy spokesman for his parliamentary group. He will “not continue in this position from the next week of the Bundestag session,” said Gysi at the end of his speech in the parliamentary budget debate.
He did not give a reason for his resignation. The parliamentary group said that Gysi had communicated his decision to the board some time ago. There is no current political reason. Gysi is one of the best-known left-wing politicians in Germany. He took over the speaker post in May 2020.
Foreign policy ideas publicly discussed
Above all, the Russian attack on Ukraine had recently brought to the fore contradictory ideas about foreign policy within the left-wing faction. Last year, Gysi expressed “horror” at a statement in which Left MP Sahra Wagenknecht and other MPs blamed NATO for the Russian attack. Among other things, he had accused his faction colleagues of “lack of emotion regarding the war of aggression”.
Gysi himself had previously spoken out in favor of a ceasefire in Ukraine and peace negotiations. He called the “gigantic rearmament” in the federal budget superfluous. Gysi said:
Civil affairs, diplomacy, disarmament, reconciliation of interests and compliance with international law by all sides are our real opportunity.
Difficult situation for the left faction
The entire left faction is currently in a difficult position. The faction leaders Amira Mohamed Ali and Dietmar Bartsch actually wanted to give up their posts at the beginning of the month – but then they had to remain in office because there was initially no consensus-based successor in the faction. Now, by the end of October, a “viable overall concept” for the parliamentary group leadership is to be developed, as party leader Janine Wissler announced.