Unease as
Russia-friendly ‘queen of the elections’ aims for more German poll success
Some see
Sahra Wagenknecht’s brand of ‘left conservatism’ as a bulwark against AfD but
others see reasons to be wary
Kate
Connolly
Kate
Connolly in Brandenburg an der Havel
Tue 17 Sep
2024 05.00 BST
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/17/sahra-wagenknecht-germany-elections-bsw-afd
Sahra
Wagenknecht is not even on the ballot in the upcoming state election in
Brandenburg. But her face is plastered on billboards across the sprawling,
largely rural northern state that surrounds Berlin.
There she
hopes her fledgling Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) will repeat the successes
it enjoyed in polls in Thuringia and Saxony earlier this month, where it came
third with vote shares in the double figures, performing so well that it is now
a kingmaker for any possible coalition in either state.
The
centre-right is grappling with how it can keep the far-right Alternative für
Deutschland (AfD) party out of the governments in those two states, where the
AfD took more than 30% of the vote in each, coming top in Thuringia. With the
latest polls showing the AfD ahead in Brandenburg, the same scenario could be
repeated on Sunday.
So it is
that Wagenknecht, a former communist who once stood on the periphery as a
protest politician, has been thrust into the limelight as a core player
advocating a distinctive brand of “left conservatism”. And while some see her
eponymous alliance as a potential bulwark against the AfD, others point to its
anti-migration rhetoric and Russia-friendly foreign policy as reasons to be
wary.
Acknowledging
the power she holds, Franz Josef Wagner, the long-serving columnist of the
tabloid Bild, recently referred to her as a “queen of the elections” who could
become “Queen of Darkness” or “Queen of Light”, depending on which direction
she takes.
“I’m pinning
my hopes on her,” said Regine Hirsch, 80, a retired chemical laboratory
technician, who had left a weekly game of cards with some girlfriends in order
to come and hear Wagenknecht speak at the BSW’s first election rally in the
riverside city of Brandenburg an der Havel.
“Whether
everything she says is to be believed, I cannot say,” she said, rubbing her
hands against the chill of an autumn breeze. “But I’ve always quite liked her,
and anything to keep the Nazis out will be my motto when I go to vote on 22
September,” she added, in reference to the AfD.
In a
passionate 35-minute address to a crowd of about a thousand people gathered on
Brandenburg an der Havel’s market square, Wagenknecht made brief reference to
the BSW’s success “from an almost standing start” in Thuringia and Saxony,
where governments without it are now almost impossible.
Brandenburg
voters could ensure a similar result, she said, “and in so doing, send a signal
to the unspeakable government in Berlin”, which, she mocked, lived in its own
detached capital-city “bubble of organic food shops, lattes and cargo bikes”.
Laughter and
applause rippled across the square. Then Wagenknecht launched into one of her
big campaign themes: Ukraine and the defence policy of the chancellor, Olaf
Scholz.
Speaking to
the crowd, Wagenknecht derided the government’s decision to cut off supplies of
Russian gas, blaming the move for Germany’s cost of living crisis. If she were
given the chance, she added, she would push for a diplomatic solution to
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She suggested Vladimir Putin was no more of a
warmonger than the United States.
To many,
such claims are deeply disturbing, redolent of reactionary anti-western,
anti-Nato propaganda. For the historian Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk, the BSW and the
AfD are “siblings in spirit” – both populist parties that reject western
values. Calling the former “Putinists” and the latter “fascists”, the author
said a vote for either was an expression of the ancient proverb “the enemy of
my enemy is my friend”.
“Not since
reunification in 1990 is democracy and freedom in such danger as it is now,” he
told the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
In
Brandenburg an der Havel, however, the message was going down well with
Cornelia Pelzer, a self-employed businesswoman from a nearby town who had
travelled to hear Wagenknecht speak.
“I’m 150%
behind her insistence on pushing for peace,” she said. “She reflects the
consciousness of many other Germans on this score, which is why she’s so
successful. She’s a complete counterpoint to our war-mongering government,” she
added, in reference to the continued military support the government has given
to Ukraine.
Pelzer said
she had long been a Wagenknecht fan and had chosen to follow her when she broke
away last year from the leftist Die Linke party – “who were mired in trench
warfare” – with a band of her supporters to form the BSW.
Manfred
Köhler, 67, who spent 45 years as a shift worker at the local steelworks,
admitted he was unconvinced by Wagenknecht and was more likely to vote for the
AfD. “But I live in hope that her lot, despite what they say, and the AfD will
band together,” he said, sitting on the edge of a flower bed and drawing on a
cigarette after the rally.
Wagenknecht
has, like the established parties, ruled out a coalition between her party and
the anti-migration, anti-Islam AfD, although she has been less insistent about
refusing any cooperation whatsoever, suggesting the two could work together
where their party programmes align. She has been eager to show empathy towards
AfD supporters in the hope of luring them to her BSW, saying many chose to vote
for the party “not because they’re far-right but because they are furious”.
Obvious
overlapping goals include limiting migration, increasing the deportations of
rejected asylum seekers and tightening controls at Germany’s borders (a step
already taken by the government on Monday). Wagenknecht has said Berlin needs
to send the message to the world that “Germany is overwhelmed, Germany doesn’t
have any more room, Germany is no longer prepared to be destination number
one”.
Köhler said
that, as a Brandenburg voter, overwrought public services, a lack of
integration and security were among his main concerns. “My granddaughter is in
the second year of school and over half the class is not able to speak German,”
he said. “All I know is that this situation can’t continue, and that the
established parties have to be ousted.”
But did he
trust parties that had never before held positions of political responsibility?
“If they’re no good, they’ll be out after five years,” he said. “But you have
to give them a chance. They can’t do any worse than the current lot. And you
can’t label me a Nazi for suggesting it. That’s a cheap shot – that was 85
years ago.”
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