Too few for the Bundestag
Left faction prepares for Wagenknecht’s death blow
October 21, 2023, 3:52 p.m
A mood of doom, but also a sense of optimism: The Left in the Bundestag is preparing to lose its parliamentary group status, as former parliamentary group leader Wagenknecht wants to found a new party. SPD leader Klingbeil is already recruiting left-wing members who are willing to change: “Our doors are open.”
In view of Sahra Wagenknecht’s plans to found her own party, the left-wing faction in the Bundestag is preparing to wind it down. Parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch expects that the Left will lose its parliamentary group status as a result of the split: This puts the jobs of more than 100 parliamentary group employees at risk, Bartsch told the “Tagesspiegel”. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil was open to accepting Left Party members: “Our doors are open.”
Wagenknecht wants to present her association BSW (“Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht”) in Berlin on Monday. According to the announcement, the previous parliamentary group leader Amira Mohamed Ali and Bundestag member Christian Leye are also taking part. A new Wagenknecht party could emerge from this association. As a result of the split, the left-wing faction is likely to lose its faction status – and with it opportunities for influence and financial donations.
Difficult times: Dietmar Bartsch, left-wing parliamentary group leader, expects to lose his parliamentary group status next year.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa)
“I expect that we will lose our parliamentary group status in January when the new party is actually founded,” said parliamentary group leader Bartsch to the “Tagesspiegel”. He pointed out that 108 people were employed as parliamentary group employees. They would lose their jobs if the left lost their faction status. Bartsch accused Wagenknecht of being “lax about the fate of more than 100 employees.”
Lötzsch wants to keep fighting
Deputy parliamentary group leader Gesine Lötzsch told the newspaper that she wanted to fight for the continued existence of the parliamentary group. “My wish now is that we remain a group for as long as possible in order to protect 108 employees and maintain political work,” she said. “I’m having conversations about that.” Lötzsch described Wagenknecht’s decision as “very regrettable”. She tried for a long time to prevent the separation from Wagenknecht.
Bartsch made an appeal to his group: “We must currently try to maintain our dignity, focus on our work and on the people who elected us, not on the BSW.”
In order to form a parliamentary group in the Bundestag, at least five percent of the members are required. Parliamentary groups receive special financial resources from the Bundestag budget, in particular for employing staff. If a party in the Bundestag has less than five percent of the representatives, it can form a group there – which, however, receives less money. The Left will lose its parliamentary group status if two or more MPs leave the parliamentary group.
Riexinger also sees positive things
The former left party leader Bernd Riexinger described the impending end of the group in the “Tagesspiegel” as regrettable – but was also able to find positive sides to it: “As a group, we could finally appear united again and distinguish ourselves through our parliamentary work and not through the eternal ones Quarrels.”
The SPD chairman Klingbeil was open to accepting members of the Left into his party. “I will not be distributing membership forms in the Left Party now,” Klingbeil told “Welt am Sonntag”. “But of course: Anyone who is committed to freedom, justice and solidarity and wants to make a difference in our country is welcome in the SPD.”
Switch to the SPD
Former left-wing politician Thomas Lutze, who switched to the SPD, expects further defections in the event that the faction falls apart as a result of Wagenknecht founding a party. “If the parliamentary group breaks up, then other members of the Left will go to the Greens or the SPD,” the Bundestag member told the Germany editorial network. “I would be confident of switching to the SPD between six and ten.”
Lutze had recently transferred from the left-wing faction to the SPD and its parliamentary group. According to RND information, SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert also campaigned for Lutze’s inclusion in the Berlin regional association. This was also done with the intention of inviting other left-wing MPs to defect.