The days when the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance was an important new player at the federal political level appear to be over. Now BSW apparently wants to change the situation by proposing to the AfD.
In a letter to AfD leadership, BSW directly addressed Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla. He rejects the anti-AfD firewall and emphasizes that BSW “has been critical of this type of demarcation from the very beginning.”
And BSW goes even further in its rapprochement with the AfD. The letter states: “After the elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, our goal in the elections is to vote out incumbents and replace them with non-party prime ministers who govern state parliaments with changing majorities with the participation of the AfD.”
A clear AfD proposal for tolerance from the BSW if it enters the state parliaments of Magdeburg and Schwerin?
The proposal is not only from the AfD
Today, party leader Amira Mohamed Ali is backing down on one detail. She says: “We want to talk to all parties about a non-party prime minister, including the AfD. The strategy of completely excluding this party has clearly failed and is leading to its further strengthening.”
The proposal is not only addressed to the AfD, but also explicitly. However, the likelihood that one of the parties in question will nominate a non-party candidate for prime minister is extremely low.
This will be a new model of government for Germany, which the AfD also does not aspire to. In Saxony-Anhalt in particular, the AfD is clearly relying on its main candidate Ulrich Siegmund to become the new prime minister.
Related content Matches
However, BSW is proposing the following: they will support a prime minister who is not a member of the AfD but nominated by the AfD if BSW sees sufficient agreement on content to cooperate. This could be the theme of a “return to Russian oil and gas” – a demand shared by the BSW and the AfD. Or on the topic of migration, where BSW writes in the letter in question: “BSW wants to reduce migration and consistently deport violent criminals because Germany is overburdened.”
In addition, BSW and AfD jointly complain about “increasingly narrow corridors of opinion.” In this regard, it is noteworthy how sharply BSW criticizes public broadcasting in a letter to the AfD leadership, which is “increasingly degenerating into a propaganda state broadcaster.”
Wagenknecht and Weidel on the same stage
This is why the AfD is now offering to make stages of its election campaign available for discussion with Alice Weidel. A duel that is primarily intended to bring BSW back into the public eye.
However, Amira Mohamed Ali, leader of the BSW party, describes the reason for the AfD proposal: “We are now challenging the AfD to a public duel because we want them to no longer be able to feel comfortable behind the firewall.”
However, BSW puts it much more friendly to the AfD directly: “To ensure a fair process, we will agree on common rules of the game,” the letter says.
Political scientist Andrea Römmele views the AfD’s BSW proposal as a new coalition option. She says: “We know from research on parties and elections that parties also need to offer power options before elections. Not just content. And that’s exactly what Wagenknecht does. Your party is currently in a difficult situation and this could be a life-saving coup.”
There was no response from the AfD to BSW’s proposal.