Why BSW could lose ahead of federal election

For a long time, BSW's entry into the next Bundestag seemed almost a certainty. But now the new party is in decline. While the boss relies on protests, her party colleagues hope to govern in the states.

Hansjörg Friedrich Müller, Berlin/ch media

Many things in German politics are constantly changing. Even a few months before the federal election, the possibility that the sitting Prime Minister would be excluded as the best candidate by his party did not seem completely impossible for the time being, until Boris Pistorius finally announced that he was abandoning the Social Democratic Party's candidacy for Prime Minister. Thursday night.

Another uncertainty that everyone was counting on could now resolve itself: the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). Recently, it seems a foregone conclusion that a new party will enter the next Bundestag, which will make it more difficult to obtain a majority, because at the federal level, no established forces are willing to cooperate with the BSW, as the new party is considered pro-Kremlin Palace.

In Saxony, Wagenknecht's obstructionist attempts worked

Now, the BSW finds itself in a paradoxical position: In the eastern German states of Thuringia and Brandenburg, it could become part of the local state governments – less than a year old. Meanwhile, nationwide surveys suggest Wagenknecht's party may miss out on entering the Bundestag.

It was the BSW's success in the states that weakened the party's position at the federal level: Although Sahra Wagenknecht considered protest and anti-establishment lines, her party in Potsdam and Erfurt colleagues would rather co-govern.

Conflict has been brewing since the East Texas elections in September. Wagenknecht put forward a condition that future regional governments with BSW participation advocate a compromising line toward Russia. She may have hoped that this situation would prevent her from participating in government.

Their obstructionist attempts worked in Saxony: Negotiations between the CDU, SPD and SPD failed two weeks ago; now the CDU and SPD are likely to form a minority government. In Brandenburg, however, the SPD and SPD are likely to agree on a coalition next week, while in Thuringia it will amount to a coalition of the CDU, SPD and SPD.

In Thuringia, Wolff defeats Wagenknecht

The two countries appear to have agreed on a preamble to the association agreement, which contains compromises on the foreign policy positioning of future state governments. In Brandenburg this happened relatively quietly, as the SPD and BSW were closer on Ukraine policy than the CDU and BSW. The agreement reached by the parties in Thuringia will be announced on Friday; the CDU leader there, and possibly the new chancellor Mario Voigt, have spoken of a “fairly peaceful document”.

The reason why the power struggle between Sahra Wagenknecht and Thuringian BSW party leader Katja Wolf did not break out in the open is most likely because of the upcoming federal elections, before which the party cannot afford a major conflict. At times, Wolf negotiated with the CDU against Wagenknecht's wishes, even though she knew that the vast majority of BSW MPs in Thuringia supported her.

Committed to participating in the government of Erfurt: Katja Wolf, President of BSW Thuringia.Image: trapezoid

At the same time, Wagenknecht was said to be trying to break Wolff's majority by integrating his followers into the Thuringian BSW association. Now the party leader is trying to save face: Wagenknecht says it was under her pressure that Thuringia and the CDU reached an acceptable compromise. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote that she wanted to “have a say in half the sentence.”

It is doubtful that the current truce in BSW will last very long. Sahra Wagenknecht and some of her colleagues are familiar with such conflicts on the left of their old party. It also lost appeal as it took on more government responsibilities in the East German states and came to be seen as part of the establishment.

There is some evidence that the BSW may have entered a state of decline before reaching political maturity. Wagenknecht could then retreat into the areas where she had been successful: talk shows and the book market. (aargauerzeitung.ch)

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte met with US President-elect Donald Trump in Florida. “They discussed some of the global security issues facing the alliance,” Nato spokesman Farrah Lalla told the German news agency in Brussels. She did not provide any details. She only added that the meeting had taken place on Friday. The news has not yet been announced publicly.