Sahra Wagenknecht’s Alliance (BSW) is entering the federal election with an eight-page “short-term program” (Kurzwahlprogramm). According to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (Sunday edition), the document highlights the party’s focus on social policy initiatives.
BSW demands a minimum pension of €1,500 after 40 years of insurance, and €1,300 after 30 years. The party also plans to abolish additional contributions for statutory health insurance, and wants the health insurance to cover dental care and glasses in full.
In housing policy, BSW demands a nationwide rent cap, and a freeze on rent increases until 2030 in regions where the housing market is unaffordable. “In all regions where the housing market is clearly out of sync with income, we want to freeze rents until the end of the decade. Sanitation costs must be borne by the landlords” the program states.
The minimum wage will be increased to €15 per hour, and pensions up to €2,000 per month will be tax-free. To promote physical activity among children and youth, BSW proposes that the federal government pay membership fees for the first year in a sports club, up to a maximum of €150.
The party’s demands in economic, foreign, migration, and health policies have already been known. Wagenknecht wants to repeal the heating law and phase out fossil fuels, and reform the debt brake to fund a large infrastructure renewal program.
To reduce refugee numbers in the EU, BSW demands that asylum procedures be conducted outside the EU’s external borders in “safe third countries.”
In Ukraine policy, the party demands a halt to the delivery of Taurus rockets, and no deployment of US medium-range missiles in Germany. Germany should “support the diplomatic efforts of China and the countries of the South, and take the initiative for a ceasefire and a realistic peace plan” Wagenknecht says.
BSW will not accept any further countries into the EU, and does not want Ukraine to be admitted. The country would “become a sinking ship without a bottom for German taxpayers.”
In the aftermath of the Corona pandemic, the party demands not only a parliamentary inquiry, but also a “Corona amnesty law”: all ongoing proceedings should be halted, and fines imposed “arbitrarily in the past” should be refunded.