Status: 04.03.2023 7:30 p.m
Wagenknecht’s announcement that he no longer wanted to stand for the left met with a divided response. The party leadership accuses her of having been working “on her own account for a long time”. Supporters speak of years of “bullying”.
The refusal of Bundestag member Sahra Wagenknecht to run again for Die Linke clearly reveals the cracks within the party. While the presidency tandem under Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan reacted coolly to the announcement, Wagenknecht received a lot of encouragement from their supporters within the party.
“Something new is emerging politically”
In an interview with the “Rheinpfalz” newspaper on Friday, Wagenknecht said: “I rule out running for the left again.” Also that ARD Capital Studio she confirmed to draw consequences. After the end of the legislative period, she either wants to withdraw from politics and work as a publicist and author, “or something new will arise politically,” she told the “Rheinpfalz”.
Wagenknecht alluded to speculation that she might be planning to found a new party. However, she is still keeping a low profile on this matter. Asked about a possible new foundation, she said to the “Rheinpfalz”: “It is discussed in many places”. According to her observation, it is a problem that many people in today’s party spectrum no longer really feel represented by anyone.
“I’m not commenting on this”
Party leader Wissler only said about Wagenknecht’s announcement on Friday: “That’s your decision. I’m not commenting on it.” She called “flirting with new parties” unhelpful. However, she also knows “no precise plans” and “no efforts to that effect”. Deputy chairwoman Katina Schubert accused Wagenknecht of working “for a long time on her own account” and against the party. And: “Travellers should not be held up.”
Wagenknecht’s supporters countered this sharply. “The years of bullying by the respective party leaders against the most popular politician in their own ranks are now having consequences,” said Alexander Ulrich, a member of the Bundestag. “I can understand why Sahra Wagenknecht is no longer prepared to run for this left. Why should she organize the political survival of a party that she fights every day?”
Former party leader Klaus Ernst showed himself demonstratively with Wagenknecht on Twitter and commented: “It’s a shame that my party is disappearing into political insignificance.”
accusation of going it alone
Most recently, it was Wagenknecht’s attitude to the Ukraine war that angered her within her own party. After a controversial speech in the Bundestag in autumn, when she accused the federal government of an economic war against Russia, her expulsion from the parliamentary group or a split was briefly discussed.
The party leadership did not take part in the “Manifesto for Peace” written with the publicist Alice Schwarzer and a large demonstration in Berlin. In the party, they accuse Wagenknecht of going it alone, but also of “right-wing” theses – those that also have a place in the AfD. Wagenknecht is considered one of the best-known representatives of the left.
Polls attest to a party she leads with potential voters of 20 to 30 percent.
With information from Mario Kubina, ARD capital studio