Wagenknecht wants to make a decision about founding a party

Berlin

Sahra Wagenknecht does not want to make a mistake: the leading left-wing politician does not want to answer the burning question whether she will start her own party for the next few months.

“I assume that decisions will be made within the next nine months. It should be clear by the end of the year how things will continue,” the 53-year-old told news site ZDFheute.de. The left party was highly critical of Wagenknecht’s statements. veteran left Gregory Jesse He asked his party mate to make a decision soon.

There is no “one woman show”

In the interview, Wagenknecht gave the reasons for her cautious approach: “To expect that one could—even if one decided—to launch such a party from week to week would be doomed.” Wagenknecht points to the necessary structures, legal considerations, and the fact that it needs a sufficient number of supporters. Any new project can only work with a really reliable team that takes on a lot of things you don’t have talent for. “As a one-woman show, I just can’t do that.”

Strangers with a political craft

Wagenknecht is more than a lonely intellectual warrior who loves to write books. According to her own statements, she finds it difficult to do actual political work. She once said that “controlling the machine” was alien to her – eg driving party friends, maintaining networks, drumming for support at round tables.

“I can also take perspective as a writer and publicist,” she says in an interview. “But I would also like to make a political difference, I will say that honestly.” But before deciding on “such a project,” Wagenknecht wants to make sure it can work. “I don’t want to end my political career in failure.” She still remembers the failed attempt to set up a left cross-party caucus. The “Get Up” project, launched in 2018, didn’t catch on.

There is no future in the left party

Wagenknecht sees no future for himself in the Left Party itself. At the beginning of March, she made it clear that she was no longer a left-hander Bundestag You want to run for office. After this legislative period ends in 2025, there must either be an end to politics “or something new will emerge politically”.

She’s been at odds with her party for years, but they’ve also been at odds with her. On the one hand, Wagenknecht is seen as a leading figure on the left and is invited to every talk show, and on the other hand, she repeatedly engages with the party’s official course on controversial topics: in refugee policy, she has spoken out against open borders. And she expressed her skepticism about vaccination in Corona. In her book Righteous, she settled scores with a part of her party that was committed to gender and climate.

Offers from AfD

Wagenknecht also caused offense when it came to Russia and Ukraine, when it accused the federal government of waging an economic war against Russia – which is consistent with the choice of words by AfD chief Tino Chrubala. Recently, together with Alice Schwarzer, she campaigned for negotiations and settlements “on both sides” with a “Manifesto for Peace” and mobilized thousands in Berlin for a large demonstration. Wagenknecht received an invitation from the chairman of the Thuringian AfD, Bjorn Hook AfD to enter

“Don’t torture the party forever”

The left summit, on Saturday, criticized the politician’s mind games regarding the possibility of founding a party: “It is irresponsible to announce that you want to form a rival party within the next few months,” the left explained. Presidents Janine Whistler and Martin Sherdiwan. the left It is needed more than ever in the face of war, the climate crisis, inflation and strikes. “We call on everyone to reject divisive efforts,” they added.

Gregor Jessi, a friend of the Wagenknecht party, cannot imagine that a party other than the left will have such great chances. In his opinion, the necessary “left-wing mood” is currently missing in society, he told “ZDFheute.de”. He appealed to Wagenknecht and potential sympathizers: “If the people are planning to do this, they should do it quickly and not torment the party forever.”

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