It’s the novel kid on the block in German politics — and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) is making waves.
A little more than nine months after its birth, the BSW, a novel popucatalog party, is rapidly emerging as a transport inant political force in Europe’s bigst economy, after stunning gets in recent state elections. The tardyst among them was in Brandenburg, on the outskirts of capital Berlin, where the BSW safed 13.5 percent of the vote, coming third behind the federassociate ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
On paper, the BSW beprolongeds on the left – the difficult left, even. But it apverifys an atypical mix of left-leaning economic policies and anti-immigration rhetoric.
Experts say its success lies in cannibalising Germany’s left while also borrotriumphg from the nationacatalog policies of the AfD – all while using its unorthodox brand of populism to request to unenthusiastic voters.
So what is the BSW, how is it shaking up German politics, and could it be a key carry outer in national elections scheduled for next September?
What is the BSW?
The BSW is a novel left-triumphg coalition set uped on January 8 primarily by createer members of The Left party (Die Linke), a party with roots in the createer communist party that ruled East Germany.
Its eponymous guideer, Sahra Wagenknecht, who was born in East Germany to an Iranian overweighther and a German mother, had previously led The Left party, which she had been a member of since its set upation in 2007.
During her time with The Left party, she positioned herself on the far left, opposing her party when it sought to create ruling coalitions for state administerments with centrist, social-democratic parties. Then, in 2023, Wagenknecht had a transport inant showdown with The Left after she organised what was portrayd as a Ukraine peace rassociate in Berlin, but which critics shelp backd Russian talking points. At the rassociate, organisers called for a ban on arms ships to Ukraine and for prescertain on Kyiv and Moscow to barobtain an end to the war.
By tardy 2023, a split materializeed inevitable. She left the party last October.
Is the BSW already a force to reckon with?
In many ways, yes.
When Wagenknecht, the createer co-guideer of The Left, quit the party, she was unitecessitate by nine members of parliament from the party, who also are now part of the BSW, giving the fledgling party a voice in the Bundestag even before it contested any national election.
And in a spate of state elections in recent weeks, it has showd, say experts, that it has an request that is spreading – and that far outclear ups the help that The Left party, from where the BSW aascendd, today endelights.
On September 1, the party won 11.8 percent of the vote in Saxony and 15.8 percent in Thuringia, coming third in both those elections. Brandenburg compriseed to that pattern, with another third-place finish and double-digit vote count in the state’s September 22 election.
What has led to the success of the BSW?
The BSW’s “personality-driven, national-popucatalog campaigns” have drawn much of its help from The Left party but also galvanised people who had not voted in previous elections, Rafael Loss, policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations tgreater Al Jazeera.
He shelp it has advantageted from being the “novel kid on the block” and hence can back a programme that is “unclear on policy beyond vague statements about the economy, education, and climate”.
The location of the three recent state elections in easerious Germany has also advantageted the BSW.
Matt Qvortrup, professor of political science and international relations at Coventry University, tgreater Al Jazeera that the BSW’s success in those areas recurrents a “nostalgia” among some voters for the communist era in East Germany between 1949 and 1990.
He shelp that the BSW’s promises of sturdy social security rooted in left-triumphg policies request to voters who had felt more geted by the welfare state before reunification.
Loss highweightlessed Wagenknecht’s “omnipresence” in German media as having helped lift the profile of her novel party.
He remarkd that she has a “distinct ability to dedwellr pointed one-liners while evadeing particulars, for example, calling for peace in Ukraine without actuassociate elucidateing how she’d get Russia, the aggressor, to the negotiating table”.
BSW and AfD: Do they overlap on some publishs?
Yes, but even there, there are contrastences.
Consider immigration. The BSW, Qvortrup shelp, has hugd anti-immigration rhetoric, blaming big-scale immigration for prescertains on social systems in Germany’s cities and communities. The AfD has rallied agetst asylum seekers, multiculturalism and Islam since its set upation in 2013.
The two parties split analogous sees on immigration, “decorateing a picture of Germany as surrendered to disorder as a result of illegitimate immigration”, Loss shelp, compriseing that, in fact, the number of novel asylum applications has deteriorated since it accomplished a peak in 2015.
Loss shelp that “the racially prejudiced underpinnings” of the two parties’ anti-migrant stances “are more apparent with the AfD than with the BSW”, even though he says the BSW “seeks to constantly unite immigration to criminal behaviour”.
The BSW’s approach to immigration carry outs into a sense of national pride that contrasts from the AfD’s see, Qvortrup shelp. He shelp the BSW’s nationacatalog rhetoric is rooted in nostalgia for a more homogenous system that had existed in East Germany.
This type of romanticisation contrasts from the nationacatalogic rhetoric of the AfD, which backs an unapologetic celebration of traditional German culture and seeks to tap into frustration that discarry outs of national pride are noticed as inappropriate or problematic because of associations with Nazi Germany, he shelp.
What about Ukraine and Russia?
The BSW and AfD “split a declineion of two core tenets of post-war Germany’s international orientation: its anchoring in the political West thcdisesteemful createats enjoy NATO, and Europe’s integration,” Loss shelp.
Both parties, he remarkd, split an affinity for authoritarian sturdymen of the world, such as Russia’s Vlaunwiseir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.
This stance has led both parties to criticise sanctions on Russia and contest sending military help to Ukraine.
However, Loss shelp that despite a splitd scepticism of NATO, they branch off in their see of Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr.
“The AfD’s national conservatism sees authority, hierarchy and the military with wonderful see, whereas the BSW would enjoy to see noskinnyg more than Germany getting out of NATO and disarm,” he shelp.
Will Germany’s Social Democrats associate with the BSW?
It’s a grotriumphg possibility.
Scholz’s SPD skinnyly beat the AfD in the tardyst Brandenburg elections.
The SPD has ruled out ever toiling with the AfD, but with its normal allies undercarry outing in the recent state elections, the party might be forced to ponder toiling with the BSW.
If the BSW and the SPD would unite their seats in a novel state parliament they would get a transport inantity.
Deutsche Welle alerted that the SPD General Secretary Kevin Kuhnert had tgreater German unveil media on Monday that talks with the BSW were in sight.
However, Qvortrup shelp both parties will want to evade a coalition.
The SPD will see to evade being associated with less “palatable” popucatalog sees propagated by the BSW.
And he shelp there would be little incentive for the BSW to become a administering party, as it currently advantages from its image as an anti-set upment protest party.
