Sahra Wagenknecht wants to lure voters away from the AfD with her new party. She hopes for tens of thousands of participants, but also admits that her project is not without risk. This is how German media comment on the “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance”.
Sahra Wagenknecht gets down to business. The 54-year-old presented the “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance” with several fellow campaigners on Monday. The association is expected to lead to the founding of a new party in 2024. Wagenknecht had previously resigned from the party along with nine other former Left MPs. The 38-member left-wing faction in the Bundestag is therefore on the verge of dissolution; it could only continue as a group with fewer right-wingers. Wagenknecht rejected the party leadership’s demand to return the mandates and allow successors to take part, pointing out that she had also won her mandate through the Left because of her personality.
This is how the press comments on the political earthquake in the left corner.
Sahra Wagenknecht “is, on the one hand, the rubble woman of the Left Party. On the other hand, something can be built from rubble.”
“Cologne City Gazette”: “While Wagenknecht, with a mild smile, is destroying her previous political home, the Left, she is skillfully launching a new party. She is writing reason and justice on the banners of her alliance. Who can say no to that? Wagenknecht’s alliance could do that “To fulfill Friedrich Merz’s former promises to cut the AfD in half. It is aimed at those groups of voters who no longer see themselves represented by the state-supporting parties Union, SPD, Greens and FDP, but also do not see the right-wing AfD as their new political home.”
“Rhine Newspaper” (Koblenz): “The Saarlander by choice is, on the one hand, the rubble woman of the Left Party. On the other hand, something can be built from rubble. But the question then is what. Now many observers believe or even hope that Sahra Wagenknecht and her party above all The AfD could steal away voters. That may even be the case, because the positions it has taken so far are not far removed from what the right-wing populists represent on many issues. Many voters probably see Wagenknecht as the lesser evil – because they have long been is not as radical as the AfD because it incorporates the social issue into its rhetoric much more aggressively.”
“Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”: “Wagenknecht’s advantage is that the label ‘right-wing populist’, which is unpopular in Germany, cannot easily be attached to it. That makes its project so unpredictable, even for the other parties. The SPD will suffer more from this than the CDU/CSU. Wagenknecht appeals to conservative SPD clientele in the West, some of whom are already moving towards the AfD. In the East, it remains to be seen whether the AfD will now fare like the Left Party, which has lost Pegida ragers to the right in recent years. They could now move to the left again. Surveys show how great the need for this is. It almost seems as if in almost all parties there is hope that they have finally found a remedy against the AfD. This is proof of their own strength not.”
“Nuremberger Zeitung”: “At the turn of the year it will be time for an obituary for the left, whose greatest failure was that it left the East to the right without a fight. The democratic parties must not sit back now as if this were only a phenomenon on the fringes of the world political spectrum. They have done this for far too long and have underestimated the ever-growing potential of non-voters in its explosiveness. In addition, the terms ‘right’ and ‘left’ are less and less suitable for describing the German party spectrum. It is more about the Terms ‘democratic’ and anti-democratic’. Because both the Left and the AfD and Wagenknecht are running Vladimir Putin’s business, whether financed by him or not.
“The Left has long ceased to play any role at the federal level”
“Handelsblatt” (Düsseldorf): “A dash of Marxism, getting out of the ties to the West, maximum distance from NATO and of course the huge redistribution from top to bottom, that’s the twisted mix with which Wagenknecht could actually score points. If it weren’t so crazy, you would have to Wishing her success even for a brief moment. The fact that the Left Party is finally in the process of winding down is no longer of great importance. The Left has long since played no role at the federal level. But it’s a different matter with the AfD. With that With the same political poison cocktail, the right-wing populists are now collecting their voters in East and West. What Friedrich Merz nationwide and CSU leader Markus Söder cannot achieve in Bavaria, Wagenknecht could succeed: halving the AfD.”
“General newspaper” (Mainz): “But the question hanging over everything is whether the new alliance can organize itself quickly and well. Regardless of the fact that Wagenknecht admits that she is not a good organizer: if you want to compete nationwide and in all 16 countries, you need several hundred energetic and willing members who can organize election campaigns and fill offices. Where are they all supposed to come from before the state elections in the east in 2024 and the federal election in 2025? The timing of its founding is therefore probably not a coincidence: there is no need for a comprehensive organization for the European elections in 2024. But A success here could trigger a real pull – both among voters and among potential political personnel from the ranks of other parties.”
“The Rhine Palatinate” (Ludwigshafen): “No one can prevent Wagenknecht and her friends from founding a new party. But they acquired their Bundestag mandate with the help of the Left Party and on the basis of the Left Party’s program. Wagenknecht’s movement has broken with most of the principles of this party. The The group should have the decency to resign from their respective mandates and allow successors from the left to take their place.”
“Leipziger Volkszeitung”: “Unfortunately, Wagenknecht left the central questions unanswered: Which election does she want to run in? Does she want to be in the European Parliament? Does she want to stand up to the local AfD leader Björn Höcke with a top candidate in Thuringia? Or is her ambition aimed at the Bundestag again “So far, Wagenknecht has drawn her political strength from her rhetorically polished appearances on talk shows and the resulting projection onto her person. Wagenknecht has not yet provided proof that she also has power in practical politics.”
“It addresses the concerns of ordinary people who are afraid of their jobs or of too much migration.”
“Swabian newspaper” (Ravensburg): “The fact that your party could be successful is also the result of numerous decisions made by the traffic light and its predecessor governments: a lot of ideology, little proximity to the citizens. The Union and the SPD – two people’s parties that had all too often lost sight of their people – especially when The issue of migration. Now the Union and the SPD in particular are called upon to counter the slogans with a convincing, citizen-oriented realpolitik. Otherwise what no one dares to imagine could happen in parts of the republic: the marginal strips become wider than the center.”
“Central German Newspaper” (Halle): “Especially in the East German state associations, there is a strong loyalty to one’s own party. This probably comes partly from history. When the party was still called SED and ruled dictatorially, doubts about the leadership were dangerous. After the collapse of the Socialism, the party was renamed PDS, but was now a pariah in all parliaments that no one wanted to have anything to do with. This also welded the remaining members from that time together. Wagenknecht was therefore able to poach especially those active members who had only become active in the past years ago, after the merger with WASG.”
“New Osnabrücker Zeitung”: “Wagenknecht’s analysis of the current political situation hits the nerve of many people. She addresses the concerns of ordinary people who are afraid of their jobs or of too much migration. She appeals to many with her clever mix of left-wing social policy and tougher refugee policy. In addition, the person Wagenknecht is undoubtedly talented. She has excellent analytical intelligence, but can still formulate clearly and understandably and calls a spade a spade – exactly what other politicians, including the Federal Chancellor, find difficult. In this way, Wagenknecht fills a gap. This is how democracy works . When new issues arise to which the parties do not provide satisfactory answers, new ones arise.”
“Southwest Press” (Ulm): “Sahra Wagenknecht’s alliance BSW – of course named after her – wants to shake up the political landscape in Germany. The program should be national and social – the combination of words doesn’t bode well. Behind the colorful Wagenknecht packaging lurk some serious side effects : Nationalizations, planned economy, confused pandering to Russian President Vladimir Putin. And she has already made known what awaits us in terms of foreign policy with the remark about the ‘Gaza open-air prison’. Anyone who is relieved that the AfD could lose votes to the new alliance should think about it whether he doesn’t cast out the devil with Beelzebub.”