Left Party Hopes for Six Direct Mandates in the German Federal Election
The left party hopes for six direct mandates in the German federal election. Three of these would suffice for a return to the Bundestag through the basic mandate clause, as apparent from the election strategy of the Left, which the newspapers of the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (Sunday editions) reported.
“We want to win the direct mandates in Berlin-Treptow-Köpenick, in Berlin-Lichtenberg, in Berlin-Mitte, in Leipzig II, in Erfurt-Weimar, and in Rostock,” it says there.
In Berlin-Treptow-Köpenick, Gregor Gysi will run again, having represented the district as a direct candidate for 20 years. In Berlin-Lichtenberg, party leader Ines Schwerdtner will challenge longtime direct candidate Gesine Lötzsch. Leipzig II has seen Sören Pellmann win the direct mandate for the first time in 2021.
The mention of Berlin-Mitte is surprising in the election strategy: the Left has never won this electoral district, and the relatively unknown nurse Stella Merendino will run there. Erfurt-Weimar and Rostock are the electoral districts of the two “Silver Locks” alongside Gysi, with Bodo Ramelow, the acting head of government in Thuringia, running in Erfurt-Weimar and former faction leader Dietmar Bartsch in Rostock.
The main election campaign themes of the Left Party, according to the paper, are two points: “Make housing and rent affordable” and “Protection against rising prices for food, energy, and mobility.” In 7,500 doorstep conversations, these issues reportedly emerged as the decisive themes for potential voters.
Party leader Ines Schwerdtner told the RND: “The campaign themes are based on the results of our doorstep conversations. High rents are the point that repeatedly meets us as the great burden of everyday life. The rising prices at the supermarket checkout are crushing the lives of people with every weekly shop, and a new government must not simply stand by and watch. A nationwide rent cap and the reduction of everyday prices will shape the election campaign of the Left.