Left leadership "pissed off" at Wagenknecht - Riexinger demands expulsion

The leaders of the Left Party have asked Sahra Wagenknecht to immediately distance herself from plans to found her own party.

The fact that Wagenknecht was playing publicly with the idea of ​​founding a party was "damaging to the party" and "disrespectful to the many thousands of local members," said Linken boss Martin Schirdewan on Monday after a board meeting in Berlin. However, the left leadership left open what will happen if the MP does not comply with the request.

When asked about this point, Schirdewan did not want to go into details, and he did not want to commit himself to a possible party exclusion procedure. However, he left no doubt that the party leadership saw Wagenknecht's actions as a provocation.

"I'm really pissed off about these continued announcements," said Schirdewan. Wagenknecht undermines the work of the party and its members, "and that must be stopped immediately".

Wagenknecht must now "clearly and unequivocally" distance himself from the founding of a competing party. "She should show that much respect for the party that made her famous."

The former head of the Left Party, Bernd Riexinger, had previously campaigned for Wagenknecht to be expelled from the party and parliamentary group if the latter continued their tendency to secede. "As soon as there are concrete steps towards founding a new one, there must be no more room for them in the party and parliamentary group," said the member of the Bundestag to the news portal "The Pioneer".

He accuses Wagenknecht of keeping the founding of a party “about the media” because it can only push such a project through the media. Wagenknecht had "long since broken with our party". She "no longer plays a role in the party" and founding a party will fail, said Riexinger.

According to the Federal Statutes of the Left Party, expulsion from the party is only possible "if the member intentionally violates the statutes or significantly violates the principles or regulations of the party and thus causes it serious damage". The decision is then up to an arbitration committee.

The left-wing member of the Bundestag had recently told the news portal "ZDFheute.de" that she was thinking about founding her own party and wanted to decide on it by the end of the year. "By the end of the year it must be clear what will happen next," she said.

Wagenknecht's rejection of another candidacy for the left immediately fueled new speculation about a split in the party. Most recently, she also caused irritation in her party with her positions on the Ukraine war.