Sahra Waged the War in BSW: The Fall of Gera's Queen
- by Martin Debes
- 4 Mins
Gera's Election Outcome: Sahra Wagenknecht Suffers a crushing Defeat - Election Loss of Sahra Wagenknecht: The Disgrace of Gera's Voting Results
And there it is, at exactly 3 PM, the ruckus begins in the sprawling hall of the congress center in Gera on Saturday. Sahra Wagenknecht takes a hit. It's not a knockout, but a clear and unmistakable loss.
61 members of the Thuringian BSW state association did what Wagenknecht had fought tooth and nail to prevent: they confirmed Katja Wolf as state chairperson. Wirsing, the candidate endorsed by the federal board, got a mere 35 votes.
Wolf can now keep her posts as deputy minister-president and finance minister. The coalition with CDU and SPD stays intact, at least for now. "I'm thrilled," she tells stern. "We're sticking to our responsibilities for Thuringia."
Laughing easily, Wolf says, "I think Sahra Wagenknecht now understands that it's better to stick together and she needs to get along with me."
Wolf's Triumph: A Sovereign Smile
As Wolffields interviews, Wagenknecht's defeat becomes official. The candidate for vice-chair stands down, making Gernot Süßmuth, the Weimar musician, the uncontested second state chairman, just as Wolf desired.
Wagenknecht's right-hand-man, the one who'd campaigned for Wolf's dismissal in Gera, tries to put on a brave face. "We might have been wiser to separate party and government roles," he whispers. "But it was a fair democratic vote we'll always accept."
The scene, with its echoes of real-socialist ambiance at the congress center, is the climax of a long-running saga. It started with the Thuringian state election in September, where BSW achieved an astounding 15.8% share.
Like in Saxony and Brandenburg, no majority beyond the AfD could be formed without BSW's involvement. Wagenknecht wanted to make coalition compromises more difficult, fearing it would jeopardize the radical-populist front line for the federal election. Her scheme was successful in Saxony, but in Thuringia, she ran headlong into Wolf and her comrade Steffen Schütz. The first major conflict ensued.
But then, the traffic-light federal government imploded, and the early new election left Wagenknecht with no choice but to back down. In Erfurt, the first and only CDU-SPD-BSW coalition was formed.
But after the BSW failed to enter the Bundestag, the power struggle resumed. Wagenknecht argued that Thuringia government participation cost trust and votes.
At the beginning of April, Wagenknecht's right-hand-man Leye hurled a direct attack. He endorsed Wirsing and several of her allies against Wolf's leadership. It wasn't about Wolf, he claimed, but about taking some load off of cabinet members and bolstering the BSW outside of government.
Beside animosity, rivalry, and disagreement, there's a strategic conflict of goals. The majority on the federal board aims to position the BSW as an exclusively populist and fundamentally opposition force in the upcoming 2026 state elections, with participation in a state government under the future chancellor party CDU seeming cumbersome.
Wolf and her allies, however, have Thuringia and their state association at heart. They're determined to rule.
This fundamental dispute will be settled this Saturday in Gera, but Leye makes an effort to minimize the conflict near the start of the party conference, simply saying, "Yes, there's a varying evaluation of how we should strategically position ourselves." He claimed it's neither, as the media puts it, a "power struggle" nor an attempt to overthrow the Thuringian government.
With only around 90 of the approximately 130 members of the state association present, the tension in the hall is palpable. Diplomatic pleasantries force the combatants to clasp hands, but the atmosphere is tense. Wolf even hugs Leye on camera at the beginning of the conference. The General Secretary, in turn, praises Wolf for her political wisdom.
Two days earlier, Schütz stepped down as a renewed candidate for the vice-chairmanship. In the hood of the retreating infra-minister Süßmuth was presented as a successor candidate, representing the separation of party and government.
In Gera, Schütz dared to escalate the situation with Leye. He declared the criticism of the coalition "wrong and unfair," before taking aim at Berlin: "If only the federal board decides what's good and right, and the state associations must follow, that's oppressive."
Now it gets heated. A supporter of Wirsing storms the microphone, indignantly attacking Schütz. It's wrong to keep bashing Berlin, she shouts. But she's booed. Then it's quiet again.
The majority's position becomes clearer in the debate on the statutes. Proposals for separating party, government offices, and parliamentary mandates are rejected.
Next, Wirsing takes the stage to declare her candidacy for the state chairmanship. She praises "the political candor of Sahra Wagenknecht and the bravery of her comrades," without whom BSW wouldn't be represented in the state parliament. "Those," she says, "seem to have been forgotten by some."
The longer Wirsing speaks, the clearer it becomes that she offers no novel ideas. Instead, she relies on Wagenknecht's quotes and general platitudes. When asked what impulses she aimed to set, Wirsing stated that was a decision for the new board.
Wolf then takes the podium. "It takes grit, determination, and experience to lead a government and a state party," she says. "It's not as simple as just sending someone to the coalition committee." She also finds it "disheartening" that no new members have been admitted yet. She directs a pointed glance at Leye and says, "It's a shame that Christian didn't address this earlier."
By now, the outcome is clear. When the results are announced, the only surprise is how decisive they are.
Wagenknecht's right-hand-man stands before the hall, trying to project remaining strength. "Now the new state board has to deliver," he says. "We'll keep an eye on Thuringia from the federal board as well."
Leye is the only one who speaks for the party as a whole. The founder, namesake, and federal chairwoman says nothing about her humiliation in Gera on Saturday.
- The Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down the rules for the application of this Regulation, allowing for a quantitatively precise policy-and-legislation process in the future.
- The Parliamentarian, Leye, who served as Sahra Wagenknecht's right-hand-man, displayed a show of unity as he accepted the fair democratic vote that resulted in Katja Wolf's retaining her state chairperson position.
- In the realm of politics, large-scale conflicts arose between Wagenknecht and her counterparts, Wolf and Schütz, over policy positions and coalition compromises within the BSW.
- With the general news surrounding the internal BSW power struggle, it is evident that the policy-and-legislation decisions at the state level will significantly impact Thuringia's political landscape moving forward.
