Formation of a government in Berlin: Emde wants to keep its mandate – the Berlin Left under pressure

Berlin. In the power struggle with her own party, Berlin Left MP Vanessa Emde remains tough: she clearly rejects the state executive's request to resign her mandate in the House of Representatives. “Of course I will continue to exercise my mandate!” she said in a press release. “Democratically obtained mandates are not subject to negotiation.”

Emde is accused, among other things, of denying Israel's right to exist. The case is also sensitive for the Berlin Left because it puts a strain on negotiations about a red-green-red coalition. The MP is seen by many as an expression of a problem that the left has with radical critics of Israel and even anti-Semites in its own ranks. Politicians from the Greens and SPD demand that the Left consistently solve the problem. At the federal level there are voices in both parties warning against a coalition because of Emde.

The Left state chairmen Kerstin Wolter and Maximilian Schirmer announced on Sunday that the responsible committees would now discuss further steps. “The state executive board and the left-wing faction will coordinate closely,” it said in a statement. They learned from the media that Emde did not want to give back their mandate.

"We stand by our criticism: With her repeated behavior, she puts her personal concerns above shared responsibility. In doing so, she has lost the trust necessary for cooperation," said the state chairmen. A mandate won directly is not personal possession. All 28 direct mandates of the Left were won through common efforts. Anyone who claims their mandate alone is failing to recognize this team effort.

Among other things, Emde is accused of denying Israel's right to exist. Like all Left MPs, she signed a declaration against anti-Semitism at the constitutive parliamentary group meeting, but then distanced herself from it. She also took part in a rally against her own party leadership and expressed solidarity with a controversial pro-Palestinian activist. She entered the state parliament in the September election with a direct mandate from her Neukölln constituency.

The board of the Berlin Left accused Emde on Friday of refusing to work together and asked her to give back her mandate. “We no longer trust her,” said state chairmen Wolter and Schirmer after a meeting. They gave Emde a week to “return” - combined with the demand to delete an Instagram post, apologize for the party conference appearance and promise constructive cooperation.

SPD state leader Steffen Krach had repeatedly made the consequences in the Emde case a condition for an alliance. “If this is not clarified by the end of the coalition talks, I cannot recommend my party to agree to the coalition agreement,” Krach told “Welt am Sonntag”. There must be clarity before the SPD member vote on the desired coalition agreement planned for January.

A two-thirds majority of the 44 MPs would be required to exclude Emde from her parliamentary group. However, it is unclear whether this majority would come about: there are also voices in the group that are against the idea of ​​trying to exclude the group straight away.

Wolter recently assumed that a two-thirds majority could be achieved. Emde has achieved a lot, not least by taking part in the demonstration against its own party leadership, the Left chairwoman told RBB. “I think that has offended a lot of people in the parliamentary group, but also in the party, and also shown that, okay, cooperation is obviously not wanted here.” Several left-wing politicians, including the former Bundestag faction leader Gregor Gysi, had recently publicly spoken out in favor of expelling the party.

The Evangelical Church also took a position on Sunday. “In my view, there is no question that a party that wants to take on government responsibility must clearly differentiate itself from people who represent anti-Semitic positions,” said EKD Council Chairwoman Kirsten Fehrs at the synod in Würzburg. “I can fully understand the concerns of the Jewish community at this point.”

Fehrs said that the same standard applies to all parties in the Protestant Church. "Human dignity, democracy and protection against discrimination are non-negotiable. And anti-Semitism fundamentally contradicts the Christian faith, and we oppose this resolutely." The EKD distinguishes between the behavior of individual people and the positions and decisions of a party as a whole.