"Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance" wins defectors from the left

A few weeks before the party is founded, the new "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance" is trying to gain a foothold in the region. In Ueckermünde in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the left-wing faction in the town council has declared its unanimous withdrawal from the party in order to join the new alliance, BSW state representative Sabine Zimmermann told the German Press Agency on Saturday.

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, there are dozens of inquiries from people who want to join, including entrepreneurs, trade unionists, craftsmen and carers, Zimmermann said. The situation is similar in Saxony, where she is also in charge of setting up a state association. Zimmermann announced that the BSW would run in the East German local elections in June and in the three state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in September.

The long-standing Left Party politician Sahra Wagenknecht left the party in October with nine members of the Bundestag to found a rival project. Initially organized as an association, the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance" is to formally become a party on 8 January. The founding party conference is scheduled for January 27. Zimmermann, for her part, was a member of the Left Party in the Bundestag for a long time and has been working on setting up the new project in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony since the summer of 2023.

Detlef Rabethge, previously parliamentary group leader of the Left Party on Ueckermünde town council, said that the party resignations would take effect on January 1. As the new Wagenknecht party has not yet been founded, the party will initially operate as an alliance under the title "Reason and Justice". According to him, the parliamentary group has six members.