Status: 18.11.2023, 16:12 PM
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The party chairmen Martin Schirdewan and Janine Wissler. The Left Party wants to reposition itself after the resignation of Sahra Wagenknecht and other members. © Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa
Almost a month ago, the long dispute between Sahra Wagenknecht and her party escalated. Ten members of the Bundestag resigned. Now the left wants to ensure its survival with a campaign.
Augsburg - After the split of the party current around Sahra Wagenknecht, the Left Party wants to win back voters with a campaign to renew the party. The initiative "A Left for All" was launched by party leaders Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan on Saturday at the national party congress in Augsburg. "This weekend we're starting a new chapter," said Wissler.
The campaign is intended to end and work through the protracted internal disputes, which culminated with the resignation of the ten members of the Bundestag around Wagenknecht. "The conflicts in recent years have increasingly paralyzed us and could no longer be resolved," said the party leader.
But the problems have not simply been solved because a dispute has now been ended. Structural and strategic tasks have been left undone. It is about making the Left strong again and making it the opposition of the traffic light government in Berlin, said Wissler.
700 new members since Wagenknecht's resignation
Wagenknecht and her supporters left the Left Party on October 23 to found a rival party. The Left Party points out that more than 700 people have joined the party since then. This is "an encouraging signal". At the party congress, three young women who had joined were able to explain their motives.
Previously, Bundestag parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch had again sharply attacked the group around Wagenknecht and blamed them for the dissolution of the Left Party parliamentary group. The liquidation was a "huge defeat," he said.
Sharp criticism of Wagenknecht Group again
"The responsibility for this lies first and foremost with the ten MPs who have left the party. Or rather, the nine members of parliament who see the tenth exclusively as a political saviour," Bartsch said, without mentioning Wagenknecht by name. Because of the split, the parliamentary group of the Left Party in the Bundestag must dissolve on 6 December.
"We want a political comeback of the left," says parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch. © Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa
At the party congress, the delegates agreed to demand an increase in the statutory minimum wage to 15 euros per hour and automatic inflation compensation in the future. So far, the Left Party has advocated a target of 14 euros, as the SPD and the Greens also want. Currently, the general statutory minimum wage is 12 euros, rising to 1.2024 euros on 12 January 41, and then to 12.82 euros a year later.
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Heated debate over Gaza war
Late on Friday evening, after a heated debate, the delegates had already agreed on a position on the Gaza war. A large majority called for an immediate ceasefire and the immediate release of Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas. The resolution emphasized Israel's right to exist and the goal of a two-state solution. Anti-Semitism in Germany is condemned, but also warned against anti-Muslim resentment.
The compromise motion, which had been negotiated in advance, was important to the party leadership in order not to make the Left appear to be divided on the issue. In the debate, however, there were also more extreme positions. Delegate Nick Papak Amoozegar accused Israel of "genocide", the "deliberate extermination of a people" and "ethnic cleansing". There were shouts of protest from the ranks of the delegates. Wissler criticized on Saturday that some statements and the tone in the debate did not do justice to the suffering of the people in the Middle East.
The main topic of the party's meeting in Bavaria, which lasts until Sunday, is the European elections in June 2024, with Schirdewan and refugee and climate activist Carola Rackete to head the list of candidates. Dpa