During the selection of Left Party leader Martin Schirdewan as the lead candidate for the European Parliament election, a scandal ensued on Saturday evening. Before Schirdewan was elected with just under 86.9 percent of the votes at the party conference in Augsburg, his opponent for the top spot on the candidate list, Bijan Tavassoli, caused a commotion.
Tavassoli used his candidacy speech to insult the party and praise Sahra Wagenknecht, who recently left the Left Party. At the end of his speech, Tavassoli announced his own resignation from the party as well. At one point, it was unclear whether he would still be allowed to run for candidacy. Tavassoli directly addressed Schirdewan and the conference leadership on stage. There were protest shouts and booing from the conference delegates.
Finally, Tavassoli received about 2 percent of the votes in the election against Schirdewan. He was asked to leave the stage and was eventually escorted out of the hall by security personnel. Schirdewan referred to it as an “unpleasant incident”. Tavassoli had previously gained attention through actions, including falsely presenting himself as a lesbian, bearded trans woman. The Hamburg regional association has reportedly already decided to expel him.
