German Left Party Seeks Re-Evaluation of Election Results in German Parliament
The chair of the German Left Party, Sahra Wagenknecht, has called on the parliamentary committee responsible for scrutinizing the election results to expedite their decision on the party’s appeal against the outcome of the Bundestag election. Wagenknecht expressed her concerns over the lack of a time limit for the committee to make a decision, stating that it is “rather questionable” that the legislature did not provide a deadline.
According to Wagenknecht, the party cannot take the matter to the Constitutional Court for a re-count of the votes until the committee has made a decision. If the committee, comprising of parties that did not want the German Left Party in the Bundestag, decides in a certain way, the party will then be able to take the case to the Constitutional Court.
The German Left Party’s appeal is focused on the possibility of a re-count of the votes, as the party believes that there were systematic errors in the counting of the ballots. The party had narrowly missed the five percent threshold, requiring 9,500 more votes to secure a seat in the Bundestag. If the party’s appeal is successful, it could potentially lead to a change in the composition of the current black-red federal government, as it would no longer have a majority in the Bundestag.
Wagenknecht emphasized that the party is not seeking to maintain the current coalition, which it believes has already betrayed the voters. Instead, the party is fighting for the principle of a fair election, where the votes of nearly 2.5 million voters are not discounted without a thorough investigation of the counting process.