Hennig-Wellsow’s resignation: Failed due to directional dispute

The left co-boss Hennig-Wellsow admits that she “didn’t deliver”: A self-awareness that was as bitter as it was correct. Only a genuine new beginning can now save the divided Left Party.

The one who once threw her bouquet at the feet of a prime minister elected with AfD votes in Thuringia has now thrown in the towel. After only 14 months in office – as a clearly frustrated chairwoman who admits in her farewell statement that “not having delivered”.

It’s a self-knowledge that’s as bitter as it is right. Because together with her co-chairman, Hennig-Wellsow has not succeeded in pacifying the directional dispute. Between those on the left who are more oriented towards urban voters and those who want to win back lost regular voters in the East at all costs. Ostalgia, nostalgia, left-liberal lifestyle – the left remains divided. Concerned with himself instead of with the voter. Even after Putin’s attack on Ukraine, there was too little credibility to come to terms with one’s own Russia policy, giving plenty of cause for embarrassment.

Barely audible political voice

The result: as a barely perceptible political voice, the party only made it into the Bundestag in 2021 with a bang. A few weeks ago, an even bigger election debacle occurred in the left-wing homeland of Saarland after Oskar Lafontaine left the party.

Not “I”, but “we” delivered too little, writes the outgoing chairwoman. And: not “I”, but “the party” has deficits in dealing with sexism – does not need “a” new face, but “new faces”. A clear pointer to the co-chair. So Hennig Wellsow’s resignation might not have been the last. But it may be the last chance for the left. Because without a real new beginning, there is a risk of descent into insignificance.