A few days before Martin Schirdewan was elected party leader of the Left Party, he was standing at the information stand in Erfurt’s pedestrian zone. He had red pencils and leaflets with him that weren’t necessarily about the really big issues of world politics (“Make the zoo even better with us”). It was drizzling that day in Erfurt, and interest in the left-wing push to reduce zoo admission prices was reasonably manageable. Eventually, however, Schirdewan managed to slow down two passers-by with umbrellas. In the course of the conversation, it turned out that they were two party members from the base. Very carefully, one of the two ladies asked, after she had stowed her new pencil in her backpack: “Tell me, aren’t you Herr Schirdewan?”
In the meantime, interest in this man is also growing outside of the Left Party. On Saturday evening he was interviewed as the newly elected party leader in the “Tagesthemen” and on Monday morning on Deutschlandfunk. On the other hand, Martin Schirdewan is still unknown enough to be able to enjoy life to the fullest. From the Erfurt party conference, he traveled back to Berlin standing in the ICE.
The fact that his main residence is already in Berlin is certainly not a disadvantage for someone who is now expected to quickly save the Left Party and spruce up the Karl Liebknecht House. The work processes in the party headquarters are considered to be in great need of reform. The nice joke circulates among the approximately 80 employees: “How many people actually work in the Liebknecht house? – About a third.”
Schirdewan grew up in East Berlin, but he is a political Thuringian
There can be no doubt about Schirdewan’s diligence. As a member of the European Parliament, he runs a constituency office in Jena and Hanover, and in Brussels he has been leading the European left-wing faction together with the Frenchman Manon Aubry since 2019. 39 MPs from 13 countries are under his command there. Coincidentally, the Left Party parliamentary group also has 39 MPs, who sometimes act as if they come from 13 different worlds. Although Schirdewan and faction leader Dietmar Bartsch have known each other for a long time and get along well personally, it’s no secret that relations between the faction and the party can be expanded.
Martin Schirdewan, 46, grew up in East Berlin, but he is a political Thuringian. His state association in Erfurt is behind his ascension to party leader, he is attributed to the – by left standards – radical-pragmatic power center around Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow. Whereby such labels are naturally under-complex in this party. A graphic with all camps and currents, some of which have split up among themselves and reconnected crosswise across ideological borders, would have a good chance in the competition for the most complicated diagrams in the world. In order to curb the notorious polyphony of the left, Schirdewan relies on his European competence to “steer and lead a motley collection of leftists”.
“We know each other, we like each other,” says co-chair Wissler
He also has theoretical experience there. As a political scientist, he received his doctorate in 2007 on the topic “Transnational interaction of left-wing parties in Europe”. During his student years, he worked for the magazine Utopia creative the Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation and for the youth magazine des New Germany. He also wants to retain his mandate in Brussels as party leader. He sees this as a “huge bonus” for the 2024 European elections, on which the hopes of the crisis-plagued Left Party for a trend reversal are now concentrated.
Schirdewan has been on the party executive committee for ten years, together with his co-chairman Janine Wissler, 41. “We know each other, we like each other,” says Wissler. Since the election night in Erfurt, they should know each other even better. On the dance floor in the exhibition hall, the two devoted themselves to the old slogan of their predecessor Katja Kipping: “If I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution.”
A revolutionary policy is not to be expected from Schirdewan, rather a return to the brand essence of his party. He speaks of a 40 percent butter inflation and crib prices that are going through the roof. “Many families are no longer sure whether they can send their children to school with a cheese sandwich,” says Schirdewan. He is determined to break down the major issues (wheat crisis caused by the war, food speculation on the stock exchanges) into concrete everyday worries (cheese bread). You will also hear about the Erfurt Zoo Awards.