CDU discusses how to deal with the “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance”

The planned founding of a party by former left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht is causing discussions in the CDU about how to deal with the alliance. “Anti-Americanism, proximity to Putin and socialism are completely incompatible with our stance,” said deputy party leader Andreas Jung to “Welt”.

The Brandenburg CDU parliamentary group leader Jan Redmann said that we should wait and see the next developments. With a view to the state elections, Wagenknecht had shown in the “Zeit” that she was open to forming a government with the CDU with her “Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht” if there was no majority without the AfD. Next year, elections will take place in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg.

Jung calls for “concrete solutions instead of just describing the problem”

CDU vice-president Jung told “Welt” that the CDU was not making any premature decisions with a view to founding a new party. “If Sahra Wagenknecht founds a party and runs for elections, she will not be able to avoid giving clear answers to challenges – concrete solutions instead of just describing the problem and protesting.” Only then will it be possible to make any predictions about the potential of such a party.

Wagenknecht had said about possible cooperation with the CDU after the election in Saxony: “If in doubt, that might be better than if (Prime Minister Michael) Kretschmer governs with the AfD.” Former Federal President Joachim Gauck predicted last night on the ZDF program “Maybrit Illner”: “The new party will win big everywhere in the East.”

On Monday, Wagenknecht announced her departure from the Left and plans to found a new party. First, the “Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht” association will collect donations for this purpose. The party is scheduled to be founded in January. According to Wagenknecht, she should run in the European elections in June 2024. The aim is also to enter the race in the state elections.

Incompatibility decision also with the Wagenknecht party?

The CDU politician and former Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner pointed out that the CDU had a clear incompatibility decision with regard to the AfD and the Left Party. “This of course also applies to the Wagenknecht party, which merges the positions of the AfD and the Left like a horseshoe,” she told the “Welt” and the “Rheinische Post”.

The Lower Saxony CDU leader Sebastian Lechner, however, told “Welt” that there was a need for clarification. The new party cannot be subsumed under the CDU’s incompatibility decision with the Left and AfD. “The Wagenknecht party would have to make its own decision.”

Cautious reactions in Thuringia and Brandenburg

From the point of view of Brandenburg CDU chairman Jan Redmann, it is important to wait and see what develops. “At this point in time, we hardly know anything about the Wagenknecht party. Neither about its content, nor who in the states should be staffed for it,” he told “Bild”. The Thuringian state chairman Mario Voigt said that the ability to talk among Democrats is important, “but Ms. Wagenknecht has not yet attracted attention for making politics for the middle class.”

The former Thuringian CDU chairman Mike Mohring, however, warned that every word should be excluded from the outset. “The majority of voters in Thuringia want to experience these debates between the parties,” he told the “Tagesspiegel”.

Merz: Wagenknecht could take votes from the AfD

Meanwhile, CDU chairman Friedrich Merz trusts Wagenknecht to take votes from the AfD. “Sahra Wagenknecht may be able to take some votes away from the right-wing extremist AfD,” he told the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten”.

“But this possibility should not obscure one thing: I find the fact that we will soon have two populist parties – one from the right and one from the left – very worrying.” In 2018, as a candidate for party leadership, Merz himself said that he had the confidence to halve the AfD.

When asked whether the Union would have to rethink its relationship with the Left Party in view of the three upcoming state elections in the east, Merz said: “We won’t do that. At the moment, Ms. Wagenknecht is destroying the Left Party.”

Gauck: Wagenknecht is alienating AfD and SPD voters

Former Federal President Gauck also assumes that Wagenknecht could poach voters from the AfD – and also from the SPD. “A party is being created here that combines selected left-wing elements with national-populist arguments – and could, above all, steal away voters from the Social Democrats and the AfD,” Gauck told the newspapers of the Bavaria media group. As with the AfD, one finds an understanding for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a downplaying of the threat posed by the “Russian war arsonist.”