Martin Schirdewan, MEP for the left
Photo: Oliver Berg/ dpa
Martin Schirdewan, Member of the European Parliament, is scheduled to announce his candidacy for the Left party presidency on Wednesday.
This is "strongly expected" by several politicians from the top left, as they told SPIEGEL.
Schirdewan himself only said when asked that he would explain himself this week.
Schirdewan is co-chairman of the Left Party in the European Parliament.
The 46-year-old was born in East Berlin, worked as a political scientist and moved into the EU Parliament for the first time in 2017 when his predecessor Fabio de Masi was elected to the Bundestag.
According to reports, the Saxon member of the Bundestag Sören Pellmann is to announce his candidacy as early as Tuesday.
He had previously stated publicly that he was ready for the presidency, but had not yet officially announced his candidacy.
A corresponding appointment should take place tomorrow at 12 noon in Leipzig.
At the weekend, the incumbent party leader, Janine Wissler, announced that she would run again for the post of leader.
"I'm very happy to be party leader and I still have a lot planned," said Wissler.
There is "both the potential and the need for a left-wing party," she emphasized.
»We have it in our own hands and I would like to make my contribution with the renewed candidacy.«
At the end of June, the entire party leadership is to be re-elected at a federal party conference in Erfurt.
Usually on the left, the party leadership consists of two people, a woman and a man, one from the West and one from the East.
According to the current status, Hessin Janine Wissler would run for the Frauenplatz.
East Germans Schirdewan and Pellmann would run against each other in the men's square.
No other candidates have been announced so far.
The left is in a crisis, almost all elections in the past two years have been lost.
Most recently, the Metoo debate, arguments about the attitude towards Russia and the dispute over the party icon Sahra Wagenknecht had hit the party hard.
Party leader Susanne Hennig-Wellsow, who had formed a dual leadership with Wissler, had resigned from her post.
At the party conference in Erfurt on June 24, the party wants to clarify not only personnel decisions but also fundamental issues within the party.
