DThe left elected a new leadership at its party conference in Erfurt. Janine Wissler remains federal chairwoman, her future co-chairman is Martin Schirdewan.
The 41-year-old Wissler, who is controversial because of a series of electoral defeats and internal party quarrels, received the absolute majority of the votes at the federal party conference in Erfurt on Saturday. She prevailed against her competitors Heidi Reichinnek and Julia Bonk with 57.5 percent. Reichinnek received 35.9 percent and Bonk 2.5 percent of the vote.
With a combative speech at the beginning of the party conference, in which Wissler admitted mistakes and campaigned for a renewal of the party, she was apparently able to convince many delegates. Wissler has only been at the top of the left since February 2021. Her co-chair Susanne Hennig-Wellsow resigned in April in annoyance.
Clear victory for Schirdewan
In the election of the co-chair, MEP Schirdewan prevailed with a good 61 percent of the votes. Of his six competitors, only Sören Pellmann achieved a noteworthy result. He came to almost 32 percent.
In addition to the management duo, the entire board, which has been reduced, is to be re-elected in Erfurt. There were ten applicants for the party chairmanship alone. The personnel changes are intended to help the left regain its footing.
New co-chair: Martin Schirdewan in the EU Parliament
:
Image: dpa
Before the vote, Gregor Gysi, leader of the left-wing parliamentary group for many years, painted a bleak picture of the state of his party. “I can’t think of any real congratulations on our 15th birthday, because we are in an existential crisis,” said Gysi. The left must reconsider what its purpose for society is and then orientate itself towards that.
Gysi complained about the polyphony in the party. It is no longer recognizable what the majority and what the minority opinion is, said the former parliamentary group leader. He also complains about a “climate of denunciation” and the public trench warfare. “Our argument is in the media before it even happened.” He added, “Stop the petty crap.”
Gysi also warned of a split in the left. “Either we save our party or we sink into insignificance.” At the same time he emphasized the need for a left-wing party in Germany. She cannot be replaced by others. “This country needs democratic socialists.”
Bartsch hopes for stabilization
The co-chairman of the Left Party in the Bundestag, Dietmar Bartsch, hopes that the current party conference will bring about a new beginning. In recent years, programmatic and organizational steps have not been tackled as necessary, Bartsch said on Deutschlandfunk. Then there was the bad result in the general election. “That got us on the wrong track.”
He hopes that the party congress will open the door to stabilization. In view of the policy of the traffic light coalition, the Ukraine war and high inflation, the left is needed. The party is particularly committed to people who are “now getting under the wheels,” said Bartsch. The signal from Erfurt must be: “The left is back.”
On Friday evening, the youth association Solid described cases of sexism and sexualized assaults in the party in an open debate and called for countermeasures. Many delegates were shocked by the accounts given by the young people instead of those affected.
“Stop this criminal protection”
For example, the employee of a member of the Bundestag, who was riding in the elevator with her boss, had to listen to the comment of another comrade: “She’s pretty, maybe a bit big, but it doesn’t matter when she’s lying down.” A woman is with me was greeted with the words: “Well, you awesome piece, you look really chic again.” A woman reported how a party member “(wanted) aggressive sex, which she had not agreed to”. The young people also reported a rape without naming names.
They demanded on a banner: “Stop this criminal protection”. In the past few months, countless people with experiences of sexism have reported, said Jan Schiffer from the party youth. However, party representatives did not react adequately, but sometimes suspected conspiracy theories behind the MeToo debate on the left.
The debate began weeks ago with an article in the magazine “Spiegel” about allegations of sexism in the Hesse state association, from which the federal chairwoman Janine Wissler also comes. Wissler said in her speech at the start of the party conference: “I would like to sincerely apologize to all women who we have not been able to offer anything or little if they have been wronged.” On the sidelines of the party conference, she announced new sanctions against members of the party who are guilty of assault.