Missing the big stage Sahra Wagenknecht no longer wants to be BSW leader

There has been speculation for days about what the future holds for party founder Sahra Wagenknecht. Now the BSW leader is making things clear and relinquishing the chairmanship. Her party had missed out on entering the Bundestag.

BSW leader Sahra Wagenknecht is stepping down from the chairmanship of the party she founded. She will not be standing for the party chairmanship again at the national party conference at the beginning of December. In future, the party leadership will be formed by the current co-chair Amira Mohamed Ali and MEP Fabio De Masi.

Wagenknecht said that she wanted to free her mind again for what could really help the BSW. As chairwoman of a new BSW basic values commission, she wants to focus on sharpening the content profile, she said in Berlin on Monday.

Wagenknecht is not only the founder, but also the formative figure and by far the best-known face of the BSW. However, it has already been announced that the party will also part with the name of its founder. Although the abbreviation BSW is to remain, it will no longer stand for Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht.

The party leadership's official proposal for the long form is "Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Reason". The decision will be made at the party conference in Magdeburg on December 6 and 7.

Party in crisis

Overall, the BSW is currently going through a difficult phase. After missing out on entering the Bundestag in February, the party is only polling at 3 to 4 percent nationwide. In Brandenburg, the BSW is divided over two state media agreements, which has triggered a coalition crisis at state level. According to a report in "Stern", there is a bitter dispute in the BSW state executive in Saxony-Anhalt.

There is a fundamental dispute within the party about whether and how to co-govern at state level. Wagenknecht is struggling with government participation in Thuringia, which BSW state leader Katja Wolf vehemently defends.

Without the Bundestag, the stage is missing

Wagenknecht left the Left Party in October 2023 after a long dispute and founded the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance in early 2024. In the European elections and the state elections in eastern Germany in 2024, the BSW achieved great success from a standing start.

However, it fell at the five percent hurdle in the federal elections - albeit very narrowly. It is fighting for a recount of the votes, but its chances are uncertain.

In the event that the BSW does make it into the Bundestag, Sahra Wagenknecht wants to become leader of the parliamentary group.