The former Left Party politician presented her team at a press conference in Berlin. It aims to defy labels with a mix of left-leaning economic, conservative migration and pro-Russian foreign policy initiatives.
Sahra Wagenknecht on Monday, presented her recently announced political party to journalists in Berlin. The “Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) — Reason and Fairness,” she said, will seek to establish itself as a true people’s party and enter its first EU and German state elections this year.
Wagenknecht, who maintained her seat in Germany’s Bundestag parliament when she abandoned the Left Party in October, said BSW would work toward overcoming the “incompetence and arrogance” of Berlin’s current coalition government, claiming many voters “feel left behind.”
Wagenknecht and some 40 former Left Party colleagues will make up the initial core of the party — which will change its name before the next scheduled German national elections in autumn 2025 — and work toward establishing a larger roster of party members to stand for elections across Germany in the near future.
Wagenknecht and former Left Party parliamentary leader Amira Mohamed Ali will lead the BSW and Fabio de Masi and Thomas Geisel will stand as its first candidates when they vie for election to the European Parliament on June 7.
It is unclear which EU group the party will align itself with, as leaders have emphasized that established political labels will not apply to its program.
Wagenknecht said the party would avoid calling itself “leftist” as the term has been reduced to questions of “gender and lifestyle,” becoming devoid of any real meaning.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The “Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) — Reason and Fairness,” she said, will seek to establish itself as a true people’s party and enter its first EU and German state elections this year.
Wagenknecht and former Left Party parliamentary leader Amira Mohamed Ali will lead the BSW and Fabio de Masi and Thomas Geisel will stand as its first candidates when they vie for election to the European Parliament on June 7.
To date, BSW has only presented a rough outline of its policies and leaders promised that a vastly more detailed list of aims will be created over the coming months in coordination with citizens and experts.
At Monday’s two-hour press conference, Wagenknecht railed against the current SPD, Green and FDP coalition, accusing leaders of dividing the nation.
German farmers protesting the prospect of subsidy cuts most recently made headlines by threatening Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck as he sought to debark a ferry in northern Germany last week.
BSW also opposes the NATO military alliance, saying it “contributes to global instability” by creating “a sense of threat” — the main argument Russian President Vladimir Putin used to justify invasions of Georgia in 2008, and Ukraine in 2014 and 2022.
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