The BSW will run in the European elections and also in the German state elections in 2024. According to election researchers, the SPD and AfD will lose votes to the BSW, the Greens will not.
Former left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht founded a new party called BSW on Monday. A more detailed party program must now be drawn up by the next federal election in close coordination with experts, Wagenknecht said on Monday in Berlin. The “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – Reason and Justice” (BSW) will take part in the European elections for the first time at the beginning of the summer and then in the three state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in the autumn. Party researchers believe that Wagenknecht and the other 43 founding members will be able to unite a greater proportion of protesters and non-voters and, among other things, steal votes from the AfD, which is currently strong in the polls.
“Our goal is to be a popular party in the medium term,” said BSW financial expert Fabio De Masi. Hermann Binkert, head of the Insa polling institute, described BSW in an interview with the Portal news agency as an anti-Green party, and there would probably be no votes from it. “The SPD will lose votes to Wagenknecht.” This also applies to the Union and the AfD. This is the death sentence for the left, which has been weakening for a long time.
Wagenknecht explained that the new party wanted to grow slowly and first meet new members in person. In the first phase, 450 people should be hired to create structures in all states of the federation. We are looking for supporters who are constructive and who do not seek a different basic orientation. Therefore, interested parties must first register as a sponsor. There will be no formal restrictions on membership, but there are major differences in content among AfD members. “There will be no direct change.”
“The heating law makes no sense”
BSW wants to focus on the themes of social justice, inequality, salary increases and more diplomacy in military conflicts. “The heating law makes no sense,” said Wagenknecht, referring to the traffic light government's plans to impose more climate protection on the construction sector. A different climate policy is needed, based on what is feasible. For example, Deutsche Bahn's capacity in the freight transport sector would have to be expanded rather than significantly increasing truck tolls, which would ultimately lead to higher prices for consumers. Wagenknecht also added that global poverty cannot be solved through migration.
The BSW name will remain in effect until the next federal election, scheduled for fall 2025. “It won’t be like that in the future.” Because the party will still exist in 30 or 40 years. A first party conference is scheduled for January 27 in Berlin. Wagenknecht is the party's president alongside former left-wing politician Amira Mohamed Ali, and Christian Leye will serve as general secretary. (Portal)