parties
Lafontaine: Wagenknecht’s party will score points with non-voters
Oskar Lafontaine was, among other things, co-founder of the Left Party. photo
© Oliver Dietze/dpa
Oskar Lafontaine supports his wife Sahra Wagenknecht’s planned new party. But he himself remains in the second row.
Many voters no longer felt represented by the parties in the Bundestag. “You can also see this in the fact that voter abstention has continued to rise in recent years,” said Lafontaine. The new party, which is to be founded at the beginning of 2024, will “find a lot of support, especially among non-voters and those who only cast their votes reluctantly,” he said. “And otherwise across the parties.”
The necessity of the party is also shown by the fact that “AfD is often only elected out of protest,” said the Saarlander. These are the “issues of everyday life” that relate to people’s “fears and needs” – and which the current parties do not cover. There is currently no party that adequately looks after the interests of “the little people” – such as pensioners and low-income workers.
“I’ll stay in the second row”
The response to the emerging party was “remarkable,” said Lafontaine. Now the organization begins: “The structures are being created.” As in all other parties, there must be regional associations. He himself will not take on any role in the new party. “I’ll stay in the second row.” Lafontaine left the Left Party in 2022, which he co-founded in 2007.
“We need lower energy prices for citizens and the economy,” he demanded. Instead of buying Russian oil and gas through India and Belgium, Germany should again purchase it directly from Russia. “We need better pensions. An average pensioner in Austria has 600 to 800 euros more than in Germany.” And: “We need a minimum wage of 14 euros, a program for municipal, social housing and the resumption of the Eastern and détente policies so that the war in Ukraine does not spread to all of Europe.”
The party is scheduled to be founded in January
At the beginning of last week, Wagenknecht announced her departure from the Left and plans to found a new party. First, the “Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht” association will collect donations for this purpose. The party is scheduled to be founded in January. According to Wagenknecht, she should run in the European elections in June 2024. The aim is also to take part in the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in September.
Lafontaine, now 80 years old, was Prime Minister of Saarland (1985-1998), SPD candidate for chancellor (1990), SPD federal chairman, federal finance minister, co-founder of the Left Party and its party and parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag. Most recently he led the left-wing faction in the Saar state parliament.
Looking at his wife’s project, Lafontaine said the challenge now lies in the organizational area. “Organization and financing must now be managed.”