Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, the new party of the German left that shakes the political board

2024-01-08 20:04:43

That a party adopts as its name the name of its leader —Sahra Wagenknecht— is indicative of the degree of personalism that generates it. The former leader of the communist wing within The left Germany presented this Monday the call Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance for Wisdom and Justice (o BSW, for its acronym in German), involved in a notable media stir and supported by an independent economist – the Iranian-German businessman Shervin Haghsheno -, the former head of the parliamentary group of The Left, Amira Mohamed Ali, and the former social democratic mayor of populous Düsseldorf, Thomas Geisel. “Our program will not incorporate issues such as gender inclusive language or other so-called leftist slogans. To many citizens that doesn’t mean anything,” said Wagenknecht. His training seeks a transversal electoratealthough he identifies as “leftist, understanding the term as the defense of social justice“he added.

“We must act against uncontrolled immigration“said Geisel, who has abandoned social democracy to join the BSW as a candidate for the elections to European Parliament, its first test at the polls. “It is not about abolishing the right of asylumbut to limit it to those who need protection because they are persecuted,” said Wagenknecht.

Electoral spectrum

Since the head of the BSW left the parliamentary group of The left Along with eight other deputies, at the end of last year, political analysts tried to evaluate the electoral spectrum that he could reach. For decades, Wagenknecht led the communist wing of the Left, a party that emerged from the fusion between post-communism in eastern Germany and a split from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Oskar Lafontainewhom she married in 2015. But her immigration positions and tough approach to asylum bring her closer to the far-right approaches Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Analysts consider that the BSW can recruit voters who currently give their vote to the radical right. And also that the new party could give the final blow to La Izquierda, a party that in the 2021 general elections stood at 4.9%, below the minimum 5% to obtain seats, although it finally obtained a parliamentary group thanks to several victories. in their eastern strongholds.

“It is said that we are a threat to democracy, but the real threat is a government like the current one,” said Wagenknecht, alluding to the tripartite between social democrats, greens and liberals of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Neither these formations nor the conservative opposition give “sensible” responses to Germany in recession, which has also become the “Ukraine’s first arms supplier“recalled the leader of the BSW, considered closer to Moscow than to Kiev. Her newborn party has secured a certain financial base – 1.5 million euros from donations – and is looking for new militancy, but will refuse a “transfer “automatic” of affiliates from the AfD, he assured, although without specifying how this filter will materialize.

Political crisis and radicalization of protests

Wagenknecht’s new party could shake up the German political landscape. The AfD is the second party in terms of voting intentions at the national level, with prospects of becoming the first force in the three eastern states where regional elections will be held next September. Its appearance occurs at a time of economic weakness in Germany and budget cutsprecipitated by the austerity defended by Scholz’s liberal associates. This Monday was the first day in the series of massive mobilizations in the German countryside against cuts to diesel subsidies that, according to farmers, endanger their activity. All this week the protests throughout the country, while on Monday next a large concentration of tractor drivers is expected to converge in Berlin.

The tension in the countryside is increasing, which has translated into violent attempts attributed to infiltrated far-rightists. There was even an escrache to the Minister of Economy and Climate Protection, the green Robert Habeck, when several hundred protesters tried to attack the ferry he was on after spending Christmas in northern Germany. The farmers’ union immediately distanced itself from these forms of protest. But they made it clear that they will continue with their mobilizations against the cuts.