opposition
New, old leadership duo: Mohamed Ali and Bartsch re-elected as left parliamentary group leaders
The re-elected co-group chairmen of the Left Amira Mohamed-Ali and Dietmar Bartsch
© Michael Kappeler / DPA
The parliamentary group leaders, Amira Mohamed-Ali and Dietmar Bartsch, who were re-elected without opposing candidates, have a clear message: The left should not be written off yet.
The two freshly elected left-wing parliamentary groups Amira Mohamed-Ali and Dietmar Bartsch have put their party in the mood for a difficult path and campaigned for unity. It must be “an end to mutual disregard,” said Bartsch on Monday afternoon after the parliamentary group had confirmed the two with a majority of 76.9 percent in office. It is now a matter of the party overcoming internal disputes and concentrating on its core brand for its role in the opposition. “We are the social conscience in the German Bundestag and will accompany the traffic lights accordingly.”
He and Mohamed Ali are ready to continue to exercise this leadership role, even if the party now had fewer staff and fewer financial resources and it would not be easy. “If leadership is ordered, leadership must also be accepted,” said Bartsch. The left will now watch very closely how the coalition negotiations between the SPD, FDP and the Greens would develop. His party has to put its finger in the wound, especially when it comes to social issues and the taxation of higher earners.
Left despite failed five percent hurdle in the Bundestag
The left had slipped from 9.2 to 4.9 percent in the federal election four weeks ago. It is only thanks to Gregor Gysi (Berlin), Gesine Lötzsch (Berlin) and Sören Pellmann (Leipzig), who won their constituencies directly, that the party continues to be represented in parliament with factions. With at least three direct mandates, the five percent hurdle is bypassed and a party gets seats in the Bundestag after its second vote result. The new parliamentary group still has 39 members – 69 in the previous legislative period.
The co-parliamentary group chairman Mohamed Ali, who was re-elected this Monday, also announced that the party and parliamentary group would now go into a “good and solidaristic processing” of the federal election results. “I know we still have a way to go.” But the faction had shown the two chairmen with their vote that they wanted to go along this path, said Mohamed Ali.
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No opposing candidates
The 39 MPs of the Left had confirmed the parliamentary group leaders in office in the afternoon after the two party leaders Janine Wissler and Susanne Hennig-Wellsow had proposed the candidates again for the chairmanship of the group. According to the information, there were no opposing candidates. Mohamed Ali and Bartsch have been together at the head of the left in the Bundestag since November 2019. You are now re-elected for two years.
In addition, a large majority of 81.6 percent of the MPs confirmed the previous First Parliamentary Secretary, Jan Korte, in office. With 92.1 percent of the vote, the parliamentary group also agreed on Petra Pau as a candidate for the office of Vice President of the Bundestag. The Bundestag will decide on the offices of the deputy chairmen of parliament this Tuesday at its constituent session. Pau has been Vice President of the Bundestag since 2006.
The Left wants to meet this Wednesday and Thursday in Leipzig for its first parliamentary group retreat after the federal election. There, the MPs want to advise on the content-related positioning and line-up of the parliamentary group in the coming legislative period. On Sunday evening, the party executive announced a comprehensive election review with external expertise.