Linken-Chefin Ines Schwerdtner aims to make her party a class-oriented organization and fight for the interests of workers. She emphasized that the “broad majority of the population” has to work to earn their wages and pay their rent, while “only a few can live solely from their inheritance or wealth.” Schwerdtner also stated that within the labor world, there are many different people, “some in hospitals, others at work, at VW, wherever. And we want to organize their interests together. That’s what we’re committed to, especially because the AfD has become very strong among workers. And we say: We are the workers’ party, we represent your interests, we do not want workers to be pitted against poor people. That is our mission” she added. The focus of the party is now on social issues. On the topics of migration and foreign policy, there is still a clear stance that “does not tolerate double standards. All war crimes are punished, regardless of whether they come from Putin or Netanjahu. I believe that is still an important position, but it is not a question we go door-to-door to collect signatures on.” Schwerdtner made it clear that the party’s focus is now on maintaining clear positions in the Bundestag and making concrete changes, such as on rent issues. The struggle for a new security architecture and the question of defense capabilities are acceptable to her. However, the issue of the “genocide” in the Israeli-Gaza conflict remains a major point of contention within the party. Schwerdtner said: “That is also what is currently being examined by the court. And I believe that until it is officially confirmed that it is a genocide – that is also a very big question about when is something officially confirmed? Nevertheless, we can still talk about the reality in Gaza and the war crimes of the Israeli government without using that term. I believe that at this point we should really focus on the reality and the suffering of the people and not argue about individual terms, but rather say: It is about war crimes, which is already clear and should be named as such.” One million people have been displaced.
Ines Schwerdtner’s Vision for Class-Based Representation
