There were days of chaos in Potsdam. The BSW in Brandenburg shows how unstable the coalition is with Sahra Wagenknecht’s alliance. Just one day after the party’s founder stepped down partly from leadership of the BSW, the faction in the state parliament that co-rules with the SPD split in a dispute over two state media contracts. Without warning to SPD Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke, four of the 14 BSW MPs announced their resignation from the party.
The reasons given by the four graduates also represent the toxic climate in the young party considering similar accusations against the previous BSW sole ruler, Wagenknecht. “Authoritarian tendencies” are increasingly shaping the climate within the party, pressure on MPs is increasing, “open discussions and the inclusion of dissenting voices” are decreasing, according to the joint resignation statement. So far, the pragmatic-conservative Woidke has governed in perfect harmony, at least with his three ministers in the BSW.
Vote on government media agreements
In contrast to the blackberry coalition led by his CDU counterpart Mario Voigt in the state of Thuringia, Woidke and the sole SPD/BSW coalition have so far only secured a two-vote majority, but still hold, over the opposition from the AfD and CDU. This stable power structure became history with the split in the BSW faction. Woidke currently rules with two unpredictable partners, as all four are now independent but want to continue being part of the BSW faction.
The fragile coalition could end next week after a vote in state parliament on government media contracts, which is controversial both within the coalition and within BSW itself. BSW Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Robert Crumbach has approved the contract in cabinet, and four now-independent MPs have also signaled yes.
Reprimand from the boss
However, the majority of the parliamentary group supported by its chairman Niels-Olaf Lüders and most of the party’s state members firmly rejected the contract. For them, state intervention in protecting young people in the media has gone too far, and they also demand comprehensive reform in the field of public broadcasting. Current BSW boss Wagenknecht, already critical of the BSW government’s participation and often disruptive, criticized the actions of the four rebels via talk show statements with his usual sharpness towards those with dissent. He finds it “really problematic” when “individual MPs think they should do things differently because they probably know better”.
If the coalition of unequal partners fails, new elections would be the worst option for Woidke and the SPD. As in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the AfD also tops opinion polls in Brandenburg and is already dreaming of a single government. However, Woidke could also take the path of a minority SPD and CDU government, the red-black alliance of his dreams before state elections more than a year ago. To successfully campaign for a majority in the state parliament, he was able to rely on non-party MPs who were dissatisfied with BSW policies. He proved in the state election campaign that Woidke could also take decisive political risks. He has gambled a lot but succeeded when he linked his political fate to the SPD’s electoral goal of becoming the strongest force in the country.
