2026 DPR Election
Leftists begin election campaign – and must resolve disputes in Gaza
Top candidate Elif Eralp’s freestyle became the focus of the Left Party Congress. But other topics can cause controversy. Words of warning came from a famous friend.
Before the Left Party’s state conference, Petra Pau from Berlin demanded clarity from her colleagues in the fight against anti-Semitism. “There should be no room on the left for anti-Semitism or other forms of group-related misanthropy,” said the left-wing politician and former Vice President of the German Press Agency in the Bundestag. He expects the party’s state conference in Berlin to consider this.
The position regarding the Gaza conflict and how to deal with criticism of Israeli politics is the topic of discussion this afternoon. Ahead of the meeting with 175 delegates, several motions were put forward calling for greater support for the Palestinian cause. Meanwhile, Heads of State Kerstin Wolter and Maximilian Schirmer advocated a compromise proposal that would not only address the suffering of the Palestinian people, but also the suffering of Israelis who were victims of Hamas attacks in 2023.
Goal: “The strongest power” in Berlin
The plan is that the focus of the state-level party conference will actually be the nomination of main candidate Elif Eralp and the start of the campaign before the DPR elections in September 2026. “Our goal as the Berlin Left is of course clear: to become the strongest force,” said Schirmer a few days ago. The party hopes to have a female mayor for the first time. “We want Berlin to be a counter model to the federal government’s anti-social policies,” Schirmer said.
The Berlin Left was inspired by the victory of left-wing democratic politician Zohran Mamdani in New York, who also shared the same political concerns: the main issues in the election campaign in Berlin were lower rents and the cost of living.
“Convenience store, rude landlord”
“Many people feel that Berlin has increasingly become a convenience store for brash landlords and is now just a playground for investors,” says Kerstin Wolter. “It also means more people feel like guests in their city, which should be their home.”
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Additionally, the left is a party “that defends freedom of expression and also freedom of assembly and academic freedom,” Wolter said. This is especially true at a time when “what can or should be said comes under increasing pressure.”
Parliamentary union group leader Jens Spahn (CDU) recently accused the Berlin Left of having “unexplained ties to Islamic terrorists” and said that “hatred of Jews is openly demonstrated in youth associations.” Pau, who has been active against anti-Semitism for decades, hit back at this and warned the CDU and CSU not to exploit the issue for party political interests.
Its task is to ensure that Jews, as well as Muslims, Sinti and Roma, can live in Germany free from threats and discrimination. “This requires a determined, objective and cross-party struggle against anti-Semitism in all its forms, as well as against anti-Muslimism and anti-gypsyism,” Pau said. He is a former state chairman of his predecessor party, PDS. The 62 year old man has now left the Bundestag.
dpa
