A little over one month ahead of European elections, where her party, the BSW, is tipped to perform well, Sahra Wagenknecht, whose unique brand of syncretic anti-globalist politics continues to garner notable working-class support, offered up a scathing critique of establishment leftism and shared her vision of what a pro-German workers’ party ought to look like.
The socialist-conservative rebel, whose newly formed party The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) gained official recognition as a parliamentary group (Gruppe) in the Bundestag in February, presented her dissident perspectives in a wide-ranging, hour-long interview with the Berlin-based, news portal NiUS.
NiUS, established less than a year ago, calls itself “The Voice of the Majority” and has been referred to as the German GB News. It is a part of Germany’s expanding network of independent, counter-establishment news outlets and publishers looking to challenge—and provide an alternative to—the standardized, biased narrative presented by the corporate, globalist-dominated press.
Wagenknecht wasted little time, quickly taking aim at the Social Democratic Chancellor, and specifically zeroing in on what she sees as Scholz’s unwillingness to acknowledge—and be forthright about—Germany’s increasingly grim economic trajectory and its alarming implications.
Scholz’s view that the German economy is in a “turnaround” phase—on the cusp of an upturn—is delusional, the BSW chief declared. Only a member of the elite who is completely “out-of-touch” could hold such a view, she added.
The Chancellor’s assessment is “so unworldly, it’s so beyond reality,” she continued.
Yes, we’re having an [economic] turnaround—but in a direction that takes us right to the bottom. We are currently running the risk of massive economic decline. We are at the bottom of the league of industrialized nations and the forecasts are poor.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Germany, for the second year in a row last year, was the worst-performing major economy in the world.
Regarding the economic forecasts of Chancellor Scholz and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck’s cabinet, Wagenknecht referred to them as “hallucinations.”
I don’t want to accuse him of anything, but if it doesn’t get through, you have to accuse him of simply not taking any notice of reality. … so we recently had an appeal from the IG Metall trade union and the employers’ association, which said: it’s on fire. We are in danger of losing our industry. Companies are moving away, investment is low. So if trade unions and employers formulate this together in a paper, then I assume that the Chancellor will read it. And if he then pretends that there aren’t any major problems, then that’s a typical example of whitewashing. And that is really not at all justifiable.
Despite having long been regarded as one of the foremost figures on Germany’s political Left, Wagenknecht told NiUS that she does not view herself as such, given the predominant understanding of what it means to be Left today.
I was a staunch leftist for a long time. But what is labeled as left-wing these days or what the Left Party represents has nothing to do with a commitment to people with low income. These are far-fetched debates about language issues, about radical climate protection, which harms the poorest people the most when everything becomes more expensive, but also about migration and open borders for all. If that’s left-wing, then I’m not left-wing, because I have nothing to do with that.
Asked what she would immediately abolish if she had power, she named: “Illegal migration.”
“If I were to all of the sudden say: open borders for all, anyone who wants to can come to Germany, then I certainly would not be helping to improve the living conditions of the poorer people in particular,” Wagenknecht added.
Wagenknecht went on to underscore the noxious effects open borders have had and continue to have on the living conditions of the economically disadvantaged population. She, like others critical of unchecked migration, noted that politicians pushing for open borders policies generally never see their disastrous effects since the communities they live in remain largely insulated and unaffected.
“It’s mainly people…who live in the green inner city districts, where the rents are very high, who argue that mass migration helps Germany because it provides us with skilled workers,” Wagenknecht said.
Therefore, she continued, that when I say “I stand up for those who are struggling, I cannot possibly take a position that favors uncontrolled migration” since it has “a negative effect” on the most vulnerable economic strata.
The remarks from the leader of the months-old, insurgent party come as the BSW, per the latest polls, ranks as the second most popular political force in the east German state of Thuringia, set to elect a new state parliament this fall, commanding 16% of the vote. The leftist, anti-globalist party trails behind only Björne Höcke’s right-wing, anti-globalist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which would collect 30% if votes were held today
Projected to become the largest socialist delegation in the European Parliament later this year with seven seats, Wagenknecht’s BSW party is rumored to be laying the foundations for a new anti-NATO alliance in the house, as The European Conservative previously reported.
The BSW could conceivably join forces with economically left, socially right parties who aren’t welcome in The Left or the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) EP groupings—like Italy’s left-populist Five Star Movement (M5S), Slovakia’s Direction – Social Democracy (SMER), the Bulgarian Socialist Party, and others.
