Sahra Wagenknecht, the co-leader of the Left, disagrees with the principle of the AfD being denied posts or having their proposals rejected in parliament. “By rejecting everything the AfD proposes, it’s made easy for them” Wagenknecht told the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
In Thuringia, the AfD had become the strongest force in the state election and could have taken the position of the president of the state parliament, but it failed with its candidate and has not yet nominated a vice president. Wagenknecht said, “Even denying them a vice president serves their narrative of being victims.”
Wagenknecht acknowledged that the public debate over the Left’s positions in the Thuringian coalition with the CDU and SPD had damaged the party. “The debate was not good, but it led to further negotiations, and the CDU and SPD had to be more accommodating towards us.”
In Thuringia and Brandenburg, the Left will be involved in the state governments, while in Saxony, the negotiations with the CDU and SPD failed. Wagenknecht attributed the decline in the party’s poll ratings to the differing expectations of voters regarding governance. “Even the debate has harmed us, but we stand at 5 to 8 percent, which is a high value for a party that’s only a year old.”
Wagenknecht still rejects significantly higher defense spending. “A new arms race does not bring security. We need the money for our economic future.” She said the Europeans are already far superior to Russia in conventional arms without the US, and the Bundeswehr should be able to defend the country without the need for 90 billion euros a year. Instead, we need to focus on arms control and disarmament. “In the nuclear age, you can’t prepare for war. Therefore, we must set our sights on common security and progress through rapprochement.