Update
No requirement to do everything
Wagenknecht does not want to become party leader
November 11, 2023, 1:17 p.m
The ex-left politician is planning her own party with the “Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht”. It is still unclear whether this will also bear her name. But Wagenknecht has already ruled out one thing: she doesn’t want to take over the chairmanship. But she already knew a suitable candidate.
Former left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht does not want to become chairwoman of her yet-to-be-founded party. “I assume that someone else will be the party chairman because I don’t have the right to do and fix everything in this party now,” she said in the ARD program “Confrontation: Markus Feldenkirchen meets Sahra Wagenknecht” produced by WDR “. Instead, the former left-wing faction leader Amira Mohamed Ali could do that very well. “She also has experience, including in the organizational area, where she is significantly better than me,” said Wagenknecht.
Wagenknecht remained open to a top candidate in next year’s European elections: “There is a lot to be said for it, but there is also a lot to be said against it,” she said. A final decision has not yet been made. However, her main focus will continue to be on federal politics in the future.
Regarding possible future coalition partners, Wagenknecht said that Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SPD “wouldn’t be someone where I could imagine us coming to a common denominator.” She rejected a coalition with today’s Greens. “It’s out of the question to form a coalition with them.”
Wagenknecht and nine other MPs announced their departure from the Left party about two weeks ago. The new “Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht” is planning to found a party and thus also wants to assume government responsibility. “Yes, of course! I would like to see a different policy in our country, one that doesn’t just sit out problems all the time,” replied Wagenknecht to a corresponding question on the show.
With a view to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Wagenknecht would welcome the intervention of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder: “Well, I’m grateful for anyone who can mediate. And of course it makes sense when you mediate in a conflict like this has certain access. But he would of course have to get a certain authorization from the federal government.”
“We want voters to find us”
Not only the chairmanship, but also the official name of the yet-to-be-founded party is unclear. However, the Duisburg member of the Bundestag and Wagenknecht confidant Christian Leye (formerly of the Left Party) suggests what the new name could be. “I can […] “It’s good to imagine that Sarah Wagenknecht remains part of the name for the time being, and that’s right,” said Leye to the Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post”.
In addition to political reasons, there are very practical considerations: “New parties always end up relatively low on the ballot paper. We want voters to find and identify us,” said Leye. So far there is only one association called “BSW – For Reason and Justice”. BSW stands for Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht.
Christian Leye has been sitting in the Bundestag for the Left Party since 2021. Previously, he worked in Sahra Wagenknecht’s constituency office and led the NRW regional association. In October he and other MPs announced that they were leaving the Left Party. In Wagenknecht’s new party, the 42-year-old is to become her deputy.