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Controversial politician: Sahra Wagenknecht
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CLEMENS BILAN v EPO
Because of the ongoing dispute in the Left Party, a large part of the state executive in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has announced its withdrawal and made serious allegations against the federal leadership.
According to a joint statement by 13 board members, there will be no more candidates for the board election in a week's time.
The board has a total of 22 members.
According to the paper, the party is in its most difficult situation since it was founded in 2007.
However, the federal executive refuses to work through the poor election results and risks rendering the party irrelevant.
“We are experiencing a self-destructive culture of debate,” it continues.
»Media denunciation and public prejudice become an instrument of internal party debate.«
The background is also the ongoing dispute over the former parliamentary group leader Sahra Wagenknecht.
After a speech on Ukraine policy in the Bundestag in September, she also sparked fierce opposition within the party.
The state association of North Rhine-Westphalia, to which Wagenknecht belongs, stood by her.
Strategic new beginning required
Deputy head of state Amid Rabieh, one of the signers of the new declaration, told the dpa news agency that the left stands for diversity of opinion.
This is questioned by members of the federal executive board and the parliamentary group.
"This is a denunciation of pluralism in our party." At the same time, Rabieh emphasized: "We don't want to advocate a split, but we say: 'It's a wake-up call.'" The federal executive must open itself to a strategic new beginning, instead of individual people passing the buck.
There has been speculation for weeks as to whether Wagenknecht could possibly found his own party.
So far, the member of the Bundestag has not committed itself.
She recently said to Bild TV: "I wish that a party would emerge in Germany that could change government policy." She added: "But it's just not that easy to found a party."
Wagenknecht only caused a stir again on Friday.
She called the Greens "the most dangerous party" in the Bundestag, while parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch emphasized: "The most dangerous party represented in the Bundestag is and remains the AfD."
sms/dpa
