Almost 800,000 euros for the book and speeches: Sahra Wagenknecht has lucrative additional income.
The left even trumps Foreign Minister Baerbock.
Berlin – A book and many lectures in Switzerland: Sahra Wagenknecht (Die Linke) has not only been a busy politician in recent months, but also a well-paid one.
The member of the Bundestag collected almost 800,000 euros with a number of sideline activities - in addition to her work as a member of parliament.
This could make the party rebel the top earner in the Bundestag, well ahead of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens).
The Left Party reacted angrily.
Because even with the CDU or the AfD, few members of parliament apparently manage to earn such a salary.
Sahra Wagenknecht: The book from Campus-Verlag gives her lucrative additional income
The income from secondary employment is currently being updated in the member profiles of the German Bundestag.
As the
mirror
reported, citing this data, Sahra Wagenknecht is said to have declared a total of 792,961 euros in additional income between 2021 and 2023.
The lion's share comes from the publication of her book "The Self-Righteous", which was published two years ago by Campus-Verlag and which the left-wing politician apparently earned 720,868.99 euros.
The rest of the funds come from lectures that were primarily held in Switzerland.
Accordingly, banks and companies have to shell out up to 10,000 euros for a speech by Wagenknecht.
In the Left Party, some politicians had a cold.
"Sahra Wagenknecht's constant attacks against her own party ensure that the ruble rolls and that the job as a member of parliament is also only a minor matter financially," criticized former member of the Bundestag Niema Movassat (Die Linke) on Twitter, adding: "Almost like a Basic income for doing nothing.” Many other users on the platform made similar statements.
Side job, new party and petition: Wagenknecht puts the left before an ordeal
The anger is no accident.
Wagenknecht has been teasing its own ranks for weeks and months.
After she repeatedly gave pro-Russian speeches in the Bundestag and thus opposed the course of her own parliamentary group, she is now toying with the idea of founding her own new party - which is a severe test for the left.
The fact that Wagenknecht was often conspicuous in the Bundestag by his absence and sick leave and instead made a name for himself at demonstrations with petitions and manifestos also caused a stir.
Founding of the party: Wagenknecht does not depend on a mandate from the left because of his side job
The rift between Wagenknecht and the left now seems unbridgeable.
Last week she announced that she no longer wanted to run for the party.
The fact that she is no longer dependent on her old cadres, despite the founding of the new party, is now shown by her additional income.
Although the data of all MPs has not yet been published, Wagenknecht has so far outperformed their colleagues.
According to the media report, the CSU MP and Allgäu entrepreneur Alexander Engelhard manages to earn more than 400,000 euros from forestry income.
Can Members of Parliament have part-time jobs?
Members of Parliament may pursue a part-time job.
However, the focus must be on the task of the mandate.
According to the Members of Parliament Act, all other income above a certain amount must be reported to the Bundestag Presidium and published on the Members' profile.
Most recently, the limit for reporting additional income had fallen to EUR 1,000 per month or EUR 3,000 per year.
Previously, the annual limit was 10,000 euros.
But Wagenknecht himself already weighed it down.
Significantly lower income is expected again in the near future, the MPs' office told
Spiegel
.
The high additional income is due to the extraordinarily high book sales, it said.
Wagenknecht trumps Baerbock: the Foreign Minister's book brings in only a fraction
A comparison by the magazine shows how unusual the income is.
Accordingly, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also stated their merits as book authors.
But while the Social Democrat earned 10,700 euros for his 2022 book "Before it's too late is", the Green politician declared 15,000 to 30,000 euros from the sale of "Now".
The book had appeared in her election campaign and was heavily criticized for plagiarism.
(
jkf
)
