After parliamentary group leader Mohamed Ali announced his withdrawal, co-chairman Bartsch warns against “irresponsible” resignations. The Eastern Commissioner Pellmann wants to involve the Wagenknecht camp more closely.
Left faction leader Dietmar Bartsch has warned renegade party friends in the Bundestag not to endanger the continued existence of the faction by leaving the faction. “There is concern that the existence of the parliamentary group will be ended by resignations,” he told the Berlin “Tagesspiegel”. “If three MPs leave our group, the group must be liquidated according to established case law. That would be irresponsible.”
Bartsch said he wanted to keep the group together and fulfill his own mission, namely to make left-wing politics. He has led the parliamentary group since 2015 as one of two co-chairs, most recently with Amira Mohamed Ali. He will hold talks about his own future and decide “in the next few days”, said Bartsch.
Quarrel over Wagenknecht
Mohamed Ali had announced her withdrawal on Sunday because of the dispute over MP Sahra Wagenknecht. Her task of “supporting and representing the course of the party, above all the party leadership, in public” was “increasingly difficult” for her. It is now “impossible” for her.
Wagenknecht has fallen out with the party leadership in a dispute over direction and is considering founding his own party. A number of her own followers could follow her. Nevertheless, Bartsch denies the possibility of the Left Party breaking up: “There will be no split in the Left. We are stable in our core substance. I want the Left to act together.” A split would only strengthen conservatives and the right.
Mohamed Ali left it open to remain in the party and parliamentary group. “I’m a member of the Left Party, that’s the current status, and we’ll see what the future brings,” she said on Deutschlandfunk. She stood up for certain political content, for which she was elected and for which she also stands. “That’s my guiding principle and that’s important to me.” She did not foresee the development of the party when she took office, she wished for a different development.
Bartsch said he doesn’t expect Mohamed Ali to help found a Wagenknecht party. “Amira wants to continue working in the Bundestag. Like Sahra Wagenknecht, she belongs to our parliamentary group. Amira Mohamed Ali and I are currently preparing our parliamentary group’s retreat.”
Riexinger calls for “open discussion”
The former chairman of the left, Bernd Riexinger, called for further fundamental corrections. “The current structure will not be sustainable,” he told the newspapers of the editorial network Germany, referring to the coalition of supporters of the reform wing around Bartsch and the wing around Wagenknecht, to which Mohamed Ali also belongs. “There must now be an open discussion about how to proceed.”
There will be an opportunity to do so at the closed meeting in early September. “I hope the parliamentary group chooses a leadership that cooperates closely with the party leadership. The fact that this has not happened so far is part of our misery,” said Riexinger. “The best way for us to get back on our feet is when there is a common policy between party and faction leadership.”
Wagenknecht as top candidate in European elections?
The Left East Commissioner Sören Pellmann appealed to the party leadership to involve Wagenknecht again and to avert a split in the party. “That would be the best option: we’ll do it together, Sahra Wagenknecht and all parts of the party,” said Pellmann. “We are needed as a party right now.”
Pellmann said the party executive should reverse its decision against Wagenknecht. Mohamed Ali’s resignation is “a clear warning signal to the party executive not to remain in its position but to approach each other”. From Pellmann’s point of view, one possibility would be that Wagenknecht would be the top candidate for the left in the 2024 European elections. That will definitely be an issue again at the party conference in November.