“Really problematic” Wagenknecht criticized the dissidents in Brandenburg
The BSW suddenly had four fewer representatives in the Brandenburg state parliament: MPs left the party due to alleged authoritarian tendencies. What does the current party leader, Wagenknecht, say?
BSW boss Sahra Wagenknecht criticized four MPs in Brandenburg who left the party because of the dispute. The four people ran because they knew the party’s position and promised the public that they would represent that position, Wagenknecht said on the ARD program “Maischberger”.
“I find it very problematic that individual MPs here who have important positions – and our criticism of public broadcasting is an important position – think that they should do it differently because they probably know better,” Wagenknecht said. But he stressed that we would “continue to talk to them, and I hope we can resolve this issue.”
“There is no reason for the coalition to break up”
Earlier, four members of the BSW state parliament in Brandenburg had announced their resignation from the Wagenknecht party and expressed clear criticism of its leadership: “Authoritarian tendencies are increasingly shaping the climate within the party, pressure on representation is increasing, while open discussion and the inclusion of dissenting voices is increasingly being sidelined,” they wrote. The MPs do not wish to resign their mandate, but remain members of the group as non-party members.
In recent days, the dispute over two government media contracts in the SPD and BSW coalition in Potsdam has become increasingly heated. In contrast to the SPD, the majority of BSW MPs were unwilling to support the contract. This means that the coalition will not have a majority.
Wagenknecht told “Maischberger” that there was no provision on state agreements in the coalition agreement. He spoke with Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke of the SPD. “That will not be the reason for the coalition to break up,” Wagenknecht said. He had stated on Monday that he supported continuing the coalition with the SPD in Potsdam.
The SPD and BSW coalition has existed for almost a year. It is the only majority option without the AfD. What will happen next with the coalition remains to be seen. In practice, there are currently three partners: SPD, BSW and four members of parliament who have left BSW. “The dynamics within the BSW parliamentary group are surprising and cannot be assessed conclusively at this point,” said SPD parliamentary group leader Björn Lüttmann.
