Wagenknecht trouble without end: is there a threat of a split on the left?

Bartsch is also squirming

Created: 09/15/2022, 13:09

Bartsch now distances himself from Wagenknecht.

(Archive photo) © Michael Kappeler / dpa

Sahra Wagenknecht's speech in the Bundestag continues to cause internal discord among the left.

Now the faction leader turns on.

Berlin - Sahra Wagenknecht is probably the most popular, but at the same time the most argumentative politician in the Left Party.

The former parliamentary group leader repeatedly splits her own camp.

In Wagenknecht supporters and opponents.

Most recently, she caused a stir with a speech in the Bundestag, after which some comrades even called for a ban on speaking.

Now the party leaders are faced with a problem: Should they sanction Wagenknecht and give her arguments for an official split in the party - or stand still and irritate horrified supporters?

At the weekend, Linke leader Janine Wissler made a rather tame appeal to party unity.

Group leader Dietmar Bartsch has now spoken out.

He, too, rather cautious.

Wagenknecht speech: Bartsch distances himself – but no ban on speaking

Bartsch clearly distanced himself from Wagenknecht's speech in the plenum, but did not want to ban his comrade from speaking.

Last week in the Bundestag, Wagenknecht spoke of an unprecedented economic war against Russia in connection with sanctions.

Bartsch said on

on Thursday that he did not put the term in his mouth.

Russia's criminal war against Ukraine is the starting point of all misfortune.

But one could also talk about the effectiveness of the sanctions.

Bartsch sees a shift in Wagenknecht's speech that he does not share.

"There must be no reversal," he warned.

Critics accuse Wagenknecht of not representing the majority opinion of the party.

Ulrich Schneider, general manager of the Paritätischer Gesamtverband, and former member of the Bundestag Fabio de Masi resigned from the party because of the speech.

When asked whether Wagenknecht should be banned from speaking in the Bundestag, Bartsch said no.

There is no such thing in Parliament, and dissenting opinions must also be made known there.

Wagenknecht himself defended her speech.

Die Linke: Bartsch criticizes Wagenknecht's Schirdewan-Ruffle

At the same time, Bartsch made it clear that MPs had to stick to party decisions.

"We have a corridor," said the group leader.

This is determined by the election programs and decisions of the party.

The core of the politics of the left is to be "the social opposition in the Bundestag" and to deal with the politics of the traffic light coalition.

Meanwhile, the Left MP Klaus Ernst defended Wagenknecht in the ARD talk “Maischberger” – as he did shortly after her speech in the Bundestag.

The most recent party congress of the left had clearly rejected a motion on left-wing foreign policy that had been largely initiated by Wagenknecht.

In it, the position on Russia should be softened linguistically.

Although the Wagenknecht camp also describes the Ukraine war as "violating international law", they also insist on integrating criticism of NATO and the USA into the party position.

The sentence "We strongly condemn Russia's criminal war of aggression" should also be removed.

As a result, there was even speculation about a new Wagenknecht party, which the member of the Bundestag herself at

least did not want to deny when asked about

Bartsch did not see Wagenknecht's statements about party leader Martin Schirdewan as expedient.

On

, the former parliamentary group leader had described this as a "wrong cast".

Literally, she said with a view to criticism expressed in social media: "A party leader who confuses the parallel universe of his Twitter bubble with the mood of the population is wrong."