Chairman of the left-wing group: Amira Mohamed Ali wants to inherit Wagenknecht

For some time she was considered as a possible candidate for the post at the head of the Left in the Bundestag, now it is official: Amira Mohamed Ali wants to be faction leader. On Sunday afternoon, she e-mailed MEPs with her candidacy for the November 12 election. The letter is available to SPIEGEL.

Group and party are "in a challenging situation," writes Mohamed Ali. There are always "high losses of friction in the faction, which are responsible for weakening the perceptibility of our work". That was one reason why the left was no longer perceived by many people as a political force that had something to contribute to the great social discussions, Mohamed Ali said. "That's devastating."

The 39-year-old therefore calls for better cooperation, instead of "mutually inhibiting". You are personally concerned with content, not people and camps.

However, it is already clear that the chronically divided faction is facing its next power struggle. The election is controversial anyway, because it is about the successor of Sahra Wagenknecht, which announced in the spring, not to want to run again. Wagenknecht had strongly polarized in party and faction. But with their departure a pacification is not in sight.

As reasonably certain that Wagenknechts former co-faction leader Dietmar Bartsch is re-elected. On the other hand, it is unclear which woman will lead the faction at his side from then on. And around this post there is now a fight candidate.

Lay occurs

Already in the middle of the week, Caren Lay had declared her application. Lay is one of the more prominent Left, was already Parliamentary Director and Vice-party leader. She is currently Deputy Leader of the Group. In addition, Lay plows one of the topics with which the comrades in the public can particularly score with the rent policy.

Christoph Soeder / DPA

Group Vice Caren Lay:

However, Lay is still considered the representative of the camp of party leaders, even if her once close relationship with Katja Kipping has cooled significantly. And it was precisely the quarrel between the party and fraction leaders that has shaped the debates on the left in recent years so. Lay shares many political convictions with the reformer Bartsch and his followers, but personal and power-tactical friction has led to groups in the faction no longer forming along lines of content.

Bartsch, on the other hand, entered into an alliance with the Wagenknecht Left in 2015, which is represented by the previous double top. And this model is supposed to persist now. Mohamed Ali is one of the party's left wingers, even though she has kept out of the conflicts so far as a newcomer to the Bundestag. According to SPIEGEL information bears Bartsch environment their candidacy anyway.

This makes it clear that the left will face a close decision.