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Heidi Reichinnek: »There must be no further-so«
Photo: Sebastian Gabsch / Future Image / IMAGO
Heidi Reichinnek, member of the Bundestag, is running for the federal presidency of the left.
“If we want to overcome the crisis in our party, the much-cited renewal must also be reflected in the party executive.
There must be no further-so, "writes Reichinnek in a statement.
The Lower Saxony state chairwoman warns that many people would no longer go to the polls.
»This increasing division of society is dangerous for democracy.
We have to show precisely these people that we are there for them.
That social justice is our central concern«, says Reichinnek.
Reichinnek is the second candidate for the left double leadership, which consists of at least one woman.
She is thus a challenger to the incumbent chairwoman Janine Wissler.
She had declared at the weekend that she wanted to compete again at the party conference in Erfurt at the end of June.
The EU co-group leader Martin Schirdewan and the member of the Bundestag Sören Pellmann stand for the men's place in the dual leadership.
The 34-year-old Reichinnek was born in Merseburg, Saxony-Anhalt, but belongs to the Lower Saxony state association, which she has chaired since 2019.
In 2021, she moved into the Bundestag via third place in the Lower Saxony state list and is spokeswoman for women's affairs in the Bundestag faction.
Reichinnek is not clearly politically located in the party, but is considered a close confidant of the parliamentary group leader Amira Mohamed Ali, who is more likely to be attributed to the left wing around Sahra Wagenknecht.
The party says, however, that Reichinnek is politically more close to the moderate reformers around Dietmar Bartsch.
It is uncertain how promising Reichinnek's candidacy is.
Wissler is ailing.
During its time as party leader, the left lost all elections.
She failed to form a team with her co-chair, Susanne Hennig-Wellsow, who eventually resigned her post.
There are also ambiguities about Wissler's role in the "MeToo" scandal in the Hessian state association, in which Wissler was responsible for years.
Reichinnek finds clear words about this in her statement: "It must be unmistakably clear: sexism and even more so sexualised violence have consequences and will not be tolerated at any level in our party!"
Regarding the much-criticized polyphony of the left, Reichinnek writes: »My working style is cooperative.
Anything that needs to be clarified must first be clarified in the party so that we can speak with one voice to the outside world.
Success requires unity.« This is also to be understood as a slight distancing from the party icon Wagenknecht, who regularly ignores the decisions of the party leadership in public statements.
