The former co-leader of the Left Party faction said this to the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND). The candidate list is set to be voted on at the founding party congress on January 27 in Berlin. As it stands now, all list positions are likely to be filled with external candidates or those who have just become party members.
The nine-member parliamentary group around Wagenknecht, on the other hand, are likely to remain in the Bundestag. “I am fully focused on party work and will also remain a member of the Bundestag,” Mohamed Ali told RND. You cannot be a member of the EU Parliament and the Bundestag at the same time.
Regarding the question of whether Sahra Wagenknecht will not run as the figurehead for the European elections, the BSW chief said: “That is still open and will be clarified at the latest by the party congress.” The same applies to the party leadership. Mohamed Ali did not deny that she is being considered for this, but said literally: “Who takes over the party leadership will be decided at the party congress.”
“There is a great interest and we have already received thousands of inquiries”
It is still unclear whether the new party will also stand for election in the 2024 upcoming state elections in Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia. “We would like to run for the state elections in eastern Germany,” said Mohamed Ali. However, this would require a lot to be done in a short time from the organizational standpoint, such as the establishment of state associations, the preparation of candidate lists, and the financing of the election campaign. “A decision will not be made at the party congress.” Regarding gaining members, the BSW chief said, “This is a process that is actually already underway. There is great interest, and we have already received thousands of inquiries, which we are very pleased about!”
According to Mohamed Ali, the Wagenknecht party will pursue a more left-wing course in social policy as “representatives of workers” and “small and medium-sized enterprises.” “When it comes to societal issues, for example, the self-determination law initiated by the traffic light coalition, where every person can arbitrarily determine whether they are male, female, or diverse, regardless of their innate gender characteristics, then we are rather conservative,” said the BSW chief, who was faction leader of the Left Party in the Bundestag from 2019 until her party withdrawal in October.
