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Security policy spokesman for the left-wing parliamentary group, Matthias Höhn
Photo: Maurizio Gambarini / dpa
The left-wing external expert Matthias Höhn is trying again to persuade his party to correct course on sensitive foreign policy issues that hinder a government option in the federal government.
A corresponding amendment to the election manifesto, which is to be discussed in the party executive committee on Saturday, has been submitted to SPIEGEL.
On June 19 and 20, the federal party conference of the Left will take place, at which the election program will be decided.
Höhn, security policy spokesman for the left-wing parliamentary group in the Bundestag, had not prevailed in the run-up to the program discussion and was partly sharply attacked by the party.
Now he has presented a compromise.
The chapter “For Peace and Disarmament.
He has renamed the ban on arms exports to “Germany as a peace power”.
He added several points, but also incorporated old suggestions from the draft:
The central point, for example, is that the categorical no to any foreign missions by the Bundeswehr has been deleted.
The old draft said, for example: "The Bundeswehr must be withdrawn from Afghanistan, Mali and all other foreign missions." Foreign missions are generally rejected.
This part is missing in the application, but Höhn's draft continues to categorically reject "combat missions".
This term is not precisely defined and leaves room for example for blue helmet operations, which are not mentioned in the paper.
Höhn emphasizes the role of the UN.
"Respect for international law and human rights are non-negotiable for us," it says.
The amendment also contains specific proposals for disarmament.
This part is particularly beneficial to internal party competitors.
Instead of pursuing NATO's two percent target, the defense budget could "be significantly reduced, because we want to reduce the Bundeswehr to less than 150,000 soldiers by 2030 and focus its focus on the national defense mission."
Nuclear weapons are now discussed more broadly in the proposal.
If the original version was only about “nuclear participation within NATO”, Höhn's proposal says: “We reject the dangerous concept of nuclear deterrence.” This means Russia, for example, without being explicitly named.
Höhn deliberately submitted the application as an individual, which means that a fight vote at the party congress is unlikely.
For this, the party executive could accept part or all of the proposal.
There are many younger comrades on the committee, some of whom could agree to the proposals.
Höhn had triggered a debate in the party in January with a foreign policy strategy paper.
In the document he had challenged old dogmas of the party.
However, there was sharp criticism from parts of the party.
Foreign policy is a controversial field on the left.
When the parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch recently put the general rejection of the export of military goods to Israel up for discussion, there was immediate opposition.
The way the left deals with foreign missions or the relationship with Russia are considered to be one of the greatest hurdles for a government coalition of the left with the SPD and above all the Greens.
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