Saturday, February 03, 2024

Germany's new leftist party gains support, far-right loses in polling

2024/02/02
Members of the German Bundestag Amira Mohamed Ali (L) and Sahra Wagenknecht take part in a plenary session to discuss the 2024 federal budget. 
Britta Pedersen/dpa

The newest party in the German political landscape, the populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), is gaining support, with a 6% approval rating nationwide, according to the latest opinion poll on Friday.

That is an increase of 2% for the party that was established by Sarah Wagenknecht, a former leader of Die Linke (The Left), who split from her party to form the BSW.

The BSW combines left–wing social policy with an anti-immigrant stance and criticism of the European Union.

The results mean that if Germany held elections on Sunday, the party that was founded in January would beat the 5% hurdle needed to enter parliament, according to the poll, conducted for German public broadcaster ZDF.

The centre-right opposition bloc of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the regional Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) came in at 31%, meaning it would remain the strongest force.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) had the second-highest level of support with 19%, losing 3 points compared to the channel's previous survey carried out in mid-January.

The anti-immigrant AfD had been steadily rising in polls for months, propelled at least in part by right-wing anger at Chancellor Olaf Scholz's stumbling three-party coalition government.

Scholz's governing Social Democrats (SPD) had a support level of 15%, an increase of 25. The Green Party, the SPD's main coalition partner, had a 13% approval rating, losing 1%.

Support for the junior coalition partner, the pro-business FDP, remained unchanged at 4%, meaning it would fail to pass the 5% hurdle for the Bundestag.

Former German intelligence head slams left-wing rival as 'communist'

2024/01/28

Former President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) Hans-Georg Maassen waits to testify as a witness before the investigative committee of the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament.
 Federico Gambarini/dpa

A former head of the German domestic intelligence service, who is carving out a career in right-wing politics, on Sunday dismissed a new party on the left as "communist" in response to a suggestion that they shared common ground.

Hans-Georg Maaßen, who was eased out of his position with the intelligence agency in 2018 after comments about violence directed at migrants, announced this week that he was leaving Germany's main centre-right party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), to set up a new party, the Werteunion (Values Union).

He was dismissive of Sarah Wagenknecht, a former leader of Die Linke (The Left), who split from her party to form the Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).

"Common ground consists in the fact that Ms Wagenknecht addresses the problems that I see as well, but on the other hand her solutions come from the socialist toolbox," Maaßen told dpa. He stressed that he was open to cooperation with Wagenknecht but doubted whether this would be reciprocated.

Maaßen said he respected Wagenknecht as a gifted politician. "What I don't like is that she is simply a communist," he said, referring to her former membership of a communist grouping within Die Linke.

He noted that concern on migration was a theme common to both his group and the BSW, but that finding common solutions would be difficult. "A socialist worldview and a liberal worldview do not fit together well," Maaßen said.

The Werteunion would be a "liberal party and we say we want less state," he said.

The Werteunion plans to contest elections in three states in autumn in the east of the country in which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is riding high in the polls in an increasingly fragmented German political landscape.

No comments:

Post a Comment