After appearing on “Anne Will”
“Can and will not explain it anymore”: The Left distances itself from Sahra Wagenknecht
Dietmar Bartsch (left) and Susanne Hennig-Wellsow (right) as well as other leading politicians on the left contradict Sahra Wagenknecht’s statements about corona vaccinations
© Filip Singer / Pool / Getty Images
The appearance on “Anne Will” and the statements of Sahra Wagenknecht cause displeasure among the top of the left. Wagenknecht had positioned himself against corona vaccinations – and is now receiving violent opposition from her party.
After Sahra Wagenknecht’s public doubts about corona vaccinations, the top of the left has distanced itself from the former parliamentary group leader. “There is a resolution that means that we support vaccination campaigns,” said party leader Susanne Hennig-Wellsow on Monday in Berlin. Wagenknecht had said on the talk show “Anne Will” on Sunday evening that she would not be vaccinated against the coronavirus because she did not trust the vaccines that have been approved so far.
Hennig-Wellsow said vaccination is “also the responsibility for others”. It is about “protecting others, actually granting their freedom”. The Left Chair added: “In this respect, it is not banal to refuse vaccination or to discourage vaccination.”
Wagenknecht is a member of the Bundestag and has “no leading or democratically legitimized role in the federal association”. In this respect it is clear that the party leaders speak for the party and the parliamentary group leaders for the parliamentary group. Hennig-Wellsow added that one sentence applies to her: “I cannot and will no longer explain Sahra Wagenknecht.”
Left parliamentary group leader Bartsch is promoting vaccination
Left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch wrote on Monday morning on Twitter that he continues to “strongly advocate being vaccinated against Covid-19,” also for reasons of solidarity. Bartsch had long led the left parliamentary group together with Wagenknecht.
Green parliamentary leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt accused Wagenknecht in a previously published article for the ARD “Extra” on the Corona situation on Monday that she was “walking around with half-truths”. It is a “sign of solidarity” to get vaccinated. And she expects a “responsible politician” to say that clearly.
Wagenknecht does not consider vaccination an “act of solidarity”
Wagenknecht said in the talk show with a view to the corona vaccines, among other things, that she did not know the long-term consequences of the vaccinations. She also assumed that vaccination would only protect herself and not others. Vaccination is not an “act of solidarity with others”, as people who have been vaccinated can pass the virus on. Everyone must be able to decide for themselves when vaccinating.
The SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach, who was also present on the show, vigorously contradicted Wagenknecht’s statements.
In the Left Party there have long been disputes over the former parliamentary group leader Wagenknecht. Among other things, she had accused her party of paying too little attention to her regular voters. Applications for expulsion from their state association in North Rhine-Westphalia were unsuccessful; The federal government had also rejected a committee.