Machill to head Saxon BSW list for Bundestag

Journalism professor Marcel Machill is to lead the Saxon BSW list for the Bundestag elections. The Sahra Wagenknecht alliance expects to be able to send up to seven MPs to the Bundestag, state party leader Sabine Zimmermann told the German Press Agency. Machill (56) had already played a leading role in the exploratory talks for a possible coalition between the CDU, BSW and SPD. The alliance did not materialize.

Zimmermann, who sat in the Bundestag for the Left Party from 2005 to 2021 and also chaired the committees for Labor and Social Affairs and for Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth for a time, is not running for office and will continue to lead the BSW parliamentary group in the Saxon state parliament. Five nominations for the list come from the state executive committee, with a total of around 15 candidates. The election will take place this Sunday at a party conference in Leipzig.

After Machill, the head of the works council Frank Siebert, the lawyer Anja Kunze and Sven Quilitzsch, chairman of the German Physiotherapists' Association in Saxony, are running as proposed by the executive committee, Zimmermann added. They are guided by competence and team spirit.

Zimmermann: People are afraid of losing their jobs again

Zimmermann also commented on expectations of a new federal government. People want change, he said, and the pressure is palpable. "Above all, we need a new economic policy. It can't go on like this," said the party chairwoman. The energy policy had caused severe damage to companies. "People are once again afraid of losing their jobs. It's like déjà vu from the 1990s."

A different asylum policy called for

The BSW chairwoman from Saxony also called for a different asylum policy. Irregular migration must finally be combated with effective measures, she said. Migration is also a social issue. It is about providing people with appropriate accommodation and care. The local population should not suffer any disadvantages as a result of migration.

Not least, the issue of peace will also play a role for the BSW in the election campaign, said Zimmermann. This is why her party rejects further arms deliveries to Ukraine. The costs would be borne by the local population and the money would be used for other things in Germany. Under no circumstances should Taurus cruise missiles be delivered, otherwise Germany would be dragged into the war.

BSW Saxony wants to expand structures

The BSW in Saxony currently has 81 members. After the parliamentary elections, the structures are to be expanded and the party strengthened in the region. "We will take on many members," said Zimmermann.