Pellmann leads the Left Party list for the Bundestag elections

Leipzig Left Party politician Sören Pellmann heads his party's Saxon list for the Bundestag elections on September 23. The 47-year-old was elected at a delegates' meeting in Dresden with an approval rating of 92.4 percent. As a gift, he received red boxing gloves, among other things, so that he can use them to hit proper "left hooks".

First-placed candidates will also run as direct candidates

The 150 or so delegates also elected two former members of the Bundestag to second and third place on the list. In second place, Caren Lay (50.7 percent) prevailed against Clara Bünger (49.3 percent). In the next round of voting, Bünger from Dresden was finally able to hold on to third place with 89.9 percent. The top three candidates are also standing as direct candidates in the Bundestag elections. The election of the list candidates continued in the afternoon.

Schaper: The Left will not be bought

In her opening speech, party leader Susanne Schaper addressed the role of the Left in the Bundestag. "In these times, we need an opposition force in the Bundestag that stands up to the madness. We are that force." The Left Party is a party against business lobbyists and will not be bought. Co-chairman Stefan Hartmann described nationalism as a cancer. It is a daily task to continue resisting it.

The Left sees itself as a representative of all people in the country

"If Die Linke is not represented in the Bundestag, then it is not a Bundestag for the people in this country. If only those parties that focus on everything except improving living conditions in this country gather in the Bundestag, then soon there will only be warfare and social cuts," said Pellmann. Former Thuringian Minister President Bodo Ramelow also spoke to the delegates.

Pellmann, alongside Gregor Gysi and Gesine Lötzsch, had ensured that the Left Party was able to enter parliament at all in the 2021 Bundestag elections. All three won their direct mandates. The Left had only received 4.9 percent of the vote and would have failed to reach the five percent threshold. The Left Party in Saxony had achieved 9.3 percent of the second votes at the time.