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Favorites for the party leadership: Susanne Hennig-Wellsow (left) and Janine Wissler
Photo: Frank May / picture alliance / dpa
The Left is relocating its party congress on February 26 and 27 completely to the Internet.
The election of the new dual leadership will therefore also take place online.
The party executive decided unanimously on Saturday, as Federal Managing Director Jörg Schindler announced.
"The corona events leave us no choice," he said.
The original plan was to meet online for one day and elect the successors of party chairmen Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger and a board of directors at face-to-face events at several locations.
Now everything should take place online.
A face-to-face meeting would "not be responsible," said Schindler, given the current high number of infections.
"We will go to great lengths to ensure the security of the election," he said.
The online party congress is "not a solution we are happy with, but the best possible in the current situation."
The CDU also elected its party leadership at a virtual party congress last Saturday.
Schindler said that if the plan had been continued like this, the risk of a short-term cancellation because of an infection would have been too great.
“What remains is that we don't just do a show event, but that the delegates have their say at our place like at a regular party congress.
We owe that to the culture of discussion in our party, ”said Schindler.
Like the CDU, the left wants to have its board elections confirmed by postal vote.
The party canceled its planned party conference in Erfurt at the end of October because of the corona pandemic.
There should actually already be a decision on the new dual leadership.
The group leader in the Hessian state parliament, Janine Wissler, and the Thuringian party leader Susanne Hennig-Wellsow are clear favorites for the successor to Kipping and Riexinger.
The remaining members of the party executive committee must also be re-elected.
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kha / dpa / AFP
