The final stretch of the election campaign in Saxony-Anhalt: among the post-war housing blocks of Halle-Neustadt, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) has far more at stake than simply winning seats in the state parliament, the Landtag. Sahra Wagenknecht outlines a climate of extreme polarisation in which her party is under attack from both sides. Will the firewall fall, or will the BSW force the established parties into entirely new coalitions?
In the tension between the AfD around Ulrich Siegmund and the old parties, the BSW is fighting for visibility and complains of a media blockade. Wagenknecht draws sharp red lines around Björn Höcke, calls for a merit-based society that allows social advancement, and settles accounts with Gerhard Schröder’s Agenda policies. What does the term “left” even mean today, when the former Left Party is losing its traditional base?
Beyond regional politics, the discussion turns to the broader geopolitical line, from criticism of expensive US gas to calls for more diplomacy. It is a walk that reveals the BSW’s strategic aims and, in conversation with Wagenknecht, Gordon Repinski also explores her personal formative experience, between her background in the former East Germany and the break with her old party.
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