Former far-left co-leader forms migration-sceptical BSW, aiming to take votes away from far-right AfD
A leading German radical-left politician who has questioned the green transition and blamed the west for Russia’s war onhas left her party to set up a new one, in a move likely to cost the far right votes and further fragment the nation’s politics., said on Monday that the new association – named after herself – would court unhappy voters on the left and right, starting with next June’s European parliament elections.
During the Covid pandemic, Wagenknecht also regularly fanned doubts about government measures to control the spread of the virus. The three ruling parties – the chancellor’s centre-left Social Democrats , the pro-business FDP and the Greens – are on a combined 30%-35%. Scholz’s spokesperson said on Monday he was “happy we live in a free country where parties can be founded”.
“The Wagenknecht party will skim off AfD votes – what we’re seeing is an alternative to the Alternative for Germany,” Andrea Römmele, a professor and political scientist at Berlin’s Hertie School of Governance, told the public broadcaster ZDF.