Following the election victory of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, and the lamentations of the country’s Social Democracy over the “rise of the far right”, it is worth recalling who Sahra Wagenknecht is, and what the “Alliance” of the same name is. This Alliance is offering its seats to the AfD in order to form a government.
Wagenknecht was an MP for Die Linke from 2004. Her husband, Oskar Lafontaine, was a minister in the Schröder government and a co-founder of Die Linke, which was highly regarded by SYRIZA as it then stood.
In 2018, Wagenknecht founded a “centre-left” platform within Die Linke called “Stand Up”. As the greek journal “Efimerida ton Syntakton” reported, in response to the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the polls, “her aim was to rally the disillusioned voters of the deeply fragmented german left, as well as those of the Social democracy, who «are dissatisfied with current politics, want to see the welfare state revitalised and a peaceful foreign policy», as she herself puts it.” The whitewashing of Wagenknecht continued: “The above does not mean that the popular Sahra has suddenly become right-wing or Islamophobic, by any means (...) Several analysts believe that her «shift» is pragmatic, as it is now clear that the traditional pro-immigration rhetoric of the SPD and Die Linke does not reflect the views of many of their former voters, who feel threatened by the influx of migrants — particularly those in East Germany.”
Having thus praised the...pragmatic shift of the former parliamentary representative of Die Linke, they added Lafontaine's statement as the icing on the cake: “With this movement, we want to curb the rise of the AfD (...) Look at what is happening in East Germany: the AfD has become the party of workers and the unemployed. This should make us Leftists reflect on our own failures.”
Their initiative was presented as the “core” of a social democratic front against the far right. A few years later, in 2024, Wagenknecht founded the “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW),” and is now willing to form a government with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Saxony-Anhalt!
Social democracy's sordid role knows no bounds. The same goes for all kinds of mouthpieces that present various democratic and progressive fronts formed by parties as the “answer” to the rise of the far right, which - whether in government or in opposition - “foster” anti-popular policies, imperialist wars, and popular discontent, thereby paving the way for the far right. This is the conclusion to be drawn from Wagenknecht's case, the significance of which extends beyond Germany's borders.
Published in “Rizospastis”, organ of the CC of the KKE