Special Left Party Conference in Berlin: Eralp rejects accusations of anti-Semitism and calls for socialization of housing companies

In her speech at the special Left Party conference, Elif Eralp addresses the allegations of anti-Semitism against her party. She rejected the severity of the attacks: “These allegations are not nuanced criticism, but have had a destructive effect.” It is the job of politics to bring people together. “We as the left have exactly this task: bringing people together and building bridges.” This also means that "no statements come from our stages that scare Jewish people. That is absolutely unacceptable," emphasizes Eralp. “As a leftist, our empathy goes out to all people, especially everyone who experiences hatred and exclusion.” In this context, Eralp repeats her criticism of Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) for not meeting with Palestinians who had lost family members in Gaza. “I met with all communities,” says Eralp, adding: “I will protect every life in Berlin.” Specifically, she mentioned Jewish, Palestinian and queer life. "Everyone deserves a safe, dignified life in our city."

After the left's electoral success in Berlin, Baden-Württemberg is offering police officers from the capital to move to the southwest. "The Berlin police are too good for a left-wing clan mayor who wants to take away their resources and powers. Here in Baden-Württemberg we know what we have in our police officers," said State Interior Minister Manuel Hagel (CDU) to "Bild".

Top candidate Elif Eralp begins her speech with thanks and then moves directly to the central campaign theme: “We need a policy that takes on the corporations,” she said and repeated her party’s most important demands: a rent cap, law and order on the rental market, socialization. Eralp pointed out that the housing company Vonovia had paid out one billion euros to shareholders, "while the tenants can no longer afford their weekly shopping at the end of the month." Eralp continued: “Because of this daily cold expropriation of tenants, Vonovia and Co. must finally be socialized.” Regarding criticism of the project, she said: “We will not be intimidated by it.”

The state chairwoman of the Left Berlin, Kerstin Wolter, responded to the criticism of her party in her speech at the party conference. “Yes, mistakes were made in our party too, boundaries were crossed, sentences were spoken that hurt Jews,” she said. At the same time, she stated: “We and our arbitration courts decide on exclusions and not the others.” However, the party has a duty to investigate these cases. “Anyone who scares people leaves the corridor of democratic debate.” Wolter also emphasized: "We stand for Jewish life and Palestinian life in our city. We stand for Israel's right to exist and Palestine's right to exist."

In the Berlin SPD, representatives of the left wing are now calling for a coalition with the election winner, Die Linke, and the Greens. The deputy state chairwoman Cansel Kiziltepe said: “The people of Berlin decided on left-wing politics on election day.” She added: “Even if the SPD was clearly voted out: Our overlaps with the Left and the Greens are obvious,” said Kiziltepe, who is a Social Senator, to the German Press Agency. “It is our democratic mandate to enter into coalition negotiations with these majorities.” At the same time, a resolution “For a new social democratic awakening and a red-green-red Berlin” is supported by many party officials. The SPD’s election defeat “opened up opportunities for a progressive Senate coalition” and this opportunity must be used, the call says. It was signed by Bundestag members Annika Klose, Hakan Demir and Ruppert Stüwe, retired Berlin MPs such as Ülker Radzuwill and Sebastian Schlüsselburg, several state secretaries, district chairmen and other party representatives.

The Berlin Greens want to closely involve their party members before a possible government is formed. “After successful explorations, a state committee (small party conference) will discuss the results and decide whether to enter into coalition negotiations,” said a statement from the Berlin state association of the Greens. The basis for a stable government must be a coalition agreement. “This coalition agreement and also the staff who will be responsible for us in the government must be supported by the entire party,” said the Greens. The results after the coalition negotiations should therefore be discussed with the entire party and then asked the members of the party: “Do you want this coalition and do you want to follow us with our personnel proposal?”

The special party conference of the Berlin Left begins in Berlin, at which the outcome of the election will be discussed and the decision will be taken to start exploratory talks with the Greens and the SPD. In addition to the state executive's concise key motion, there are several motions that call for clear conditions and red lines for these negotiations. In particular, there should be no coalition agreement without a commitment to promote the socialization of large housing groups. The demands also include the increase in trade tax called for in the election program and the introduction of weekly citizens' consultation hours for any left-wing members of the Senate. One motion calls for those parts of the party that are critical of government participation to be included in the team for exploratory talks.

The current Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Sven Schulze (CDU), has rejected the AfD's request to have half of all members in the state parliament committees. The so-called preliminary council of elders dealt with this demand today. Schulze said on the news channel WELT TV: "This does not correspond to the election result, we have also clearly communicated that to the AfD. You can now see that they are trying to make as many decisions as possible not only in the interests of the AfD, but perhaps also deviate from the actual election result."

There is resistance from the federal states to planned higher taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sparkling wine. At the first discussion of the federal budget for the coming year and further financial planning in the Bundesrat, Hesse's Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) said: "Anyone who plugs budget holes with tax money and tax increases is making it too easy for themselves." In particular, a tax increase on sparkling wine would hit Hesse particularly hard as a wine country. Rhein rejected a sugar tax as a “burden for medium-sized beverage manufacturers”.

After criticism of Berlin left-wing politician Ferat Koçak's contacts with people from the clan milieu and the anti-Israel activist Ibrahim Ibrahim, Federal Managing Director Janis Ehling has announced clarification. In the WELT-TV interview, Ehling said that the party would “process the allegations transparently” and reveal what happened. He expressed “zero understanding” for Ibrahim’s appearance at a left-wing election party and emphasized that the party draws a “clear dividing line” from groups that supported Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7th.

With a view to possible consequences, Ehling said that party exclusions were “very, very difficult” on the left. At the same time, he emphasized: “We now have to take a closer look at what exactly happened and what contacts there were.” The attempt or the contact alone could be enough “to discredit our entire party,” said the Federal Managing Director.