Following the departure of a prominent former member and subsequent haemorrhaging of support, Germany’s hard-left Die Linke (The Left) party is fighting for survival just over a year before the general election, the party leadership said on Saturday.
“Die Linke is undoubtedly in a dangerous, existentially threatening situation,” the leadership said in its main motion for the upcoming party congress in the eastern city of Halle in October.
At the last election to the lower house of parliament, or Bundestag, in 2021, Die Linke garnered only 4.9% of the vote, below the 5% usually needed to enter the chamber. The party only managed to gain seats thanks to a special rule favouring minor parties that win direct mandates: With three direct mandates, it was allowed it to form a faction.
After the party’s former grande dame Sahra Wagenknecht left and founded her own party, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), Die Linke has been polling at around 3% for some time. At the beginning of June, it garnered a mere 2.7% in the European election.
Wagenknecht’s decision to quit the party came in part after she repeatedly clashed with others in Die Linke over her anti-immigrant views.
The party’s leadership body adopted the motion in Berlin on the threat to its existence. They added that from the party congress and with the Bundestag elections in 2025, they want to lead the party on a new path and make it successful again.
Leadership committees of parties use main motions to present proposals on central issues and the direction of the party. These are voted on at party congresses. An accepted main motion thus shows how a party as a whole positions itself on certain issues.
The party leadership admitted in their main motion: “Many, who for a long time placed their trust in us and voted for us, have the impression: You are preoccupied with yourselves, you are not there for us. We accept this criticism.”
The leadership added that Die Linke has failed to effectively bring the issue of distribution between the top and the bottom of society to the public agenda and to grasp the dissatisfaction with the governing centre-left coalition from the left.
Together, they want to turn the crisis into a turning point towards a stronger and more powerful left-wing party. For this, Die Linke needs to reorganize strategically, the leadership said.
In the motion, the leadership explained why, from their perspective, a strong Die Linke is “urgently needed” with regard to social, migration and foreign policy.
The party said it opposes the false narrative that makes migrants scapegoats for social cutbacks and social insecurity.
“Instead, we point to the deeply unjust distribution between the top and the bottom and the real reasons for everyday insecurity, the erosion of public services,” they stated.
The goal is set to re-enter the Bundestag with a faction in the upcoming Bundestag election.
It is still unclear whether the two party leaders, Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan, want to run for the top position again at the party congress.
After the poor performance in the European election, Schirdewan hinted that he is considering stepping down.
Former faction leaders Gregor Gysi and Dietmar Bartsch have called for a “structural, political, and personnel renewal.”
