Germany: Sahra Wagenknecht Launches New Political Party

Former coleader of Germany’s far-left Die Linke party, Sahra Wagenknecht, launched the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (bsw)—Reason and Fairness party in Berlin on Monday. Wagenknecht promised that her new party would offer a mix of left-leaning and right-leaning policies to appeal to voters who “feel left behind” by the current government coalition.

Former Left party parliamentary leader Amira Mohamed Ali will act as coleader with Wagenknecht, and 40 of her former Left party colleagues will form the core of the party.

bsw’s policies will focus on “social justice,” using left-leaning economic policies such as job security, higher wages, pensions, benefits and changes to the tax system while maintaining a strict stance on migration. The party also advocates for ending aid to Ukraine and favors a pro-Russian foreign policy.

‘Empty label’: Wagenknecht said bsw will refrain from calling itself “leftist” because she believes the term has become an empty label that has been reduced to questions of “gender and lifestyle.”

bsw aims to “change the German party system,” as many believe it signals an end to the Left party and offers a “left-wing conservative” option over the Social Democrats and Christian Democrat parties.

The people’s dissatisfaction with the current government is also driving voters to the far-right nationalist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Wagenknecht seeks to curb this with bsw.

Wagenknecht is a danger for virtually all the parties except for the Greens.
—Hermann Blinkert, German politician

Divided Germany: Despite Wagenknecht not wanting to call her new party “leftist,” it holds to extreme-leftist policies. The creation of bsw to compete with the AfD shows the growing political divide in Germany.

Learn more: Read “A New Left-wing Extremist Party for Germany.”