For at least one day this Sunday, it looks like the Left Party has broken with a bizarre tradition. And as if she could perhaps free herself from the self-created dilemma that has brought the party ever closer to its downfall. For years she indulged in internal struggles of a repulsive ruthlessness. What was fatal was that these battles were fought in front of everyone, but were never decided. So the left had many incompatible directions – and ultimately none. No wonder elections have only gone downhill. In Erfurt, she stopped short of the abyss with her decisions, but nothing more. For the proclaimed new beginning, what matters is what the winners and losers make of it.
Because there are clear winners and badly beaten losers. The winners are Martin Schirdewan and Janine Wissler, who was celebrated for her speech. They did not achieve a colossal result. This corresponds to the inner turmoil in the party, which has not been resolved with the election of the new leadership. But the camp of Sahra Wagenknecht, who was not present in Erfurt, clearly lost. This camp failed when it came to central personnel decisions and when it came to central content. Looking at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Wagenknecht’s line fell through. Instead, a decidedly left-wing but realistic motion prevailed.
The left has positioned itself as the mouthpiece of those who clearly reject arms deliveries to Ukraine, but see that Putin is the aggressor in this conflict and stands for imperialist politics. That’s not enough for supporters of arms deliveries, but it’s still a significant step for the left.
This party congress was also marked by malice and little sympathetic self-occupation. But a line prevailed. This also has something to do with the fact that many on the left, looking into the abyss, have recognized that the party needs the ability to act and clear messages. The warnings before their end, for example from veteran Gregor Gysi, could be heard more clearly than ever.
The political cannibalism usually begins after a few hours
Sometimes fear is a good guide in politics, at least for the moment. And it is part of the development of a party that it renews itself and that in these moults all those who suffer defeats on the way either fit in or just leave. Different currents are good for a party, a cacophony of opposites is not.
The protagonists of self-destruction have so far lacked this insight. Experience has shown that it only takes a few hours after a Left Party Congress for political cannibalism to set in again. Why should it be different this time, why should the self-conscience, the will-o’-the-wisps and specifically those who understand Putin keep quiet now?
Sahra Wagenknecht and her allies have been shown that they are by no means the secret majority of the party. Nevertheless, she did not even keep quiet until the end of the party congress. It is now said that some will leave, including party celebrities. For the left, that would be an expression of necessary consequence. It may well be that the left, as many believe, would be even less attractive to many voters without Wagenknecht’s appeal. But things can’t go on as before with her. If she cannot accept the Erfurt decisions, she should leave the party.