Sahra Wagenknecht: Once a communist, today a populist?

2023-10-24 09:50:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Her relations with the Left party have never been without problems. Now Sahra Wagenknecht made the decision: She left the party, and nine members of the parliamentary group have joined her. At the same time, the 54-year-old declared that she will create a new party named "Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht - For reason and justice" (BSW).

About 20 percent show sympathy for the new party

Wagenknecht, with a doctorate in economic sciences, has repeatedly encouraged speculation that a new party would be created from her in interviews. That she took this step now has to do with the polls, according to which for months a party led by her could have promising results in the elections. According to a current study by the demoscopy institute Civey conducted for the "t-online" news portal, up to 20 percent may vote for Wagenknecht's party.

Her current party, the Left, is constantly declining. In early October, it failed in the elections for the state parliaments in Bavaria and Hesse, falling short of the 5 percent parliamentary representation threshold. Meanwhile, the Left is not represented in any western country. While in the city-states of Hamburg and Bremen this party continues to be in the parliament.

Like no other German politician, Sahra Wagenknecht is considered someone who stirs up blood, not only by political opponents, but also by her own camp. The former chairperson of the parliamentary group of the Left party in the German parliament, always causes trouble for fellow MPs due to her disrespect for party discipline and the great attention that Wagenknecht constantly receives from the media.

At a time when the Left party has fallen in the polls below the 5 percent representation threshold, and if elections were held today, would fail to enter parliament, Wagenknecht's popularity has continued to rise. The leadership of the party has repeatedly asked Wagenknecht to clarify his attitude towards his own party, there has also been talk of giving an ultimatum for exclusion from the party.

Wagenknecht, who regularly appears on German political talk shows, returned last year to spearhead a "peace campaign" urging the West to stop arming Ukraine to defend against Russian attack. Wagenknecht has also criticized the leadership of the Left party, which bows to the leftists, the so-called "Left with a left lifestyle", whose policy for the integration of minorities, puts out of play, according to her, the basic electorate of the Left party.

( ed. Sarah Wagenknecht, calls Lifestyle - Left - the Left in the way of living -, those who do not put social and political-economic problems at the center of politics, but the issue of lifestyle, consumption and moral attitude.)

The Wagenknecht phenomenon – a danger to the right wing?

Sahra Wagenknecht: Once a communist, today a populist?

Wagenknecht enjoys great popularity, especially in the east of Germany. A July 2023 poll by Thuringia's Insa institute found that a new party led by Wagenknecht would win if elections were held in the state of her birth with 25 percent of the vote, three percent more than the partially extreme right-wing party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), which would thus move into second place. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the chairman of the AfD, the Thuringian Björn Höcke, also known for provocation issues, invited Wagenknecht after a "peaceful demonstration" held in February to switch to the AfD.

For fellow Left party and former Wagenknecht associate Christian Leye, this shows that the AfD fears her more than anyone else on the spectrum of German politics. "Sahra Wagenknecht is a credible critic of the situation, she dares to criticize the government in clear words," he tells Deutsche Wellen. "She can turn into a peaceful social and political alternative for all those who have the right to be unhappy. And this is very necessary, precisely because it is not allowed to give way to a party like AfD."

Political science researcher Sarah Wagner from the University of Mannheim has dealt with the Wagenknecht phenomenon. She has seen that Wagenknecht is as popular among AfD supporters as the AfD leadership is. "We see that precisely the topic of migration is seen as very connected to Wagenknecht," says Wagner in conversation with DW. migration, but there are also those who generally have a conservative attitude. That means they're critical of climate protection or against rights for the LGBTQ community."

Wagner says that a large part of current AfD members are not very committed to the party, so they could be won over by another party. "These are voters who are dissatisfied with democracy, who have a conservative attitude. Many of them do not feel well with the AfD, but they do not see any other party to vote for."

Sahra Wagenknecht: Once a communist, today a populist?

Conservative values, socialist economic plans

Some observers think Wagenknecht offers Germany an unusual combination: conservative social values ??tied to socialist economic plans. "We can't say exactly how many people are oriented by left-wing conservative values," says Wagner. But what can be said is that this group is not small.

Wagenknecht's party on the international floor may be similar to the Socialist Party of the Netherlands, which represents a hard line on migration issues, or to the Greek Communist Party, which has voted against the law to institutionalize marriage between two people of the same sex. a gender.

Wagner's study has concluded that the potential of a Wagenknecht party lies mainly in the east of Germany.

Otherwise, says Wagner, there is no specific population group to which she is addressing: Wagenknecht's followers are neither young nor old, neither predominantly male or female, nor part of a particular stratum. . So Wagenknecht can potentially reach a lot of people.

She dared

The creation of a new party could cost the political existence of the Left party, thanks to which Wagenknecht made his political career. Because Wagenknecht has now been joined by nine MPs from the parliamentary group of the Left party.

Born in 1969 in Jena, Thuringia, with a German mother and an Iranian father, politician Wagenknecht has spent practically her entire life in the party, which today is called the Left party. Since before the breakup of East Germany, she has been a member of the predecessor party of the Left party, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany SED, which has been in power in communist East Germany.

With this decision to break away, the Wagenknecht campaign has this plan: Run for the European elections next spring, to test the ground, followed by general elections for the state parliaments in the three East German states of Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia, in the fall of 2024.

With Wagenknecht's new party, it remains to be seen whether the AfD will continue to grow. Germany's political future will also depend on it./ DW