The Berlin Left is again going into the federal election campaign with Petra Pau as the top candidate. The 57-year-old Bundestag Vice President was elected to number one on the state list at a representative meeting in Neukölln on Saturday. Pau received 125 votes in favor, ten against and five abstentions. This corresponds to an approval rate of 89.3 percent. Pau was her party’s top candidate in 2017.
The left-wing politician has been a member of the Bundestag since 1998 and Vice-President of Parliament since 2006. She has won her constituency of Marzahn-Hellersdorf five times in a row since 2002.
The 46-year-old member of the Bundestag, Pascal Meiser, was surprisingly elected to second place on the state list. The left state executive had proposed the former parliamentary group leader in the House of Representatives, Udo Wolf (58), for it. He was considered a favorite in the party. Meiser received 73 votes (51.4 percent) at the meeting of representatives, Wolf 66 (46.5 percent) with two abstentions and one invalid vote.
Among other things, the state party leader Katina Schubert had previously expressly advertised for Wolf. In his speech, Meiser pointed out, among other things, his commitment as a trade unionist and campaigner for the rights of tenants, Wolf on his many years of experience.
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Lötzsch wins third place on the list
Wolf had only given up the office of Berlin parliamentary group leader last year. Now he is running for constituency 76 in Pankow, which Stefan Liebich had previously won for the Left three times in a row. Liebich had also campaigned for Wolf right before the election. The ex-parliamentary group leader then applied for fourth place on the list. He got 103 votes in favor, 26 against, one invalid and twelve abstentions (72.5 percent).
Gesine Lötzsch is in third place on the state list. She has been a member of the Bundestag since 2002 and has won the direct mandate in Lichtenberg every time since. With 130 yes, three no and seven abstentions (92.9 percent), she received an even better result than Petra Pau.
Helin Evrim Sommer (50) is fifth on the list. She sits for the constituency Spandau – Charlottenburg-Nord in the Bundestag and is development policy spokeswoman for the left parliamentary group. She got 92 votes in favor, 28 against and 21 abstentions (65.2 percent).
The best-known Berlin member of the Bundestag left in Germany, Gregor Gysi, did not run for the state list. He will run again in his constituency of Treptow-Köpenick, which he won directly last time.
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Schubert expects a tough election campaign
In Berlin, there are parallel elections to the Bundestag and the House of Representatives on September 26th. At the event in Neukölln, the Berlin Left wants to set its state list for the federal election. At the meeting of representatives in the “Estrel” hotel on Saturday, strict distance and hygiene rules, including a mask requirement, applied. A rapid corona test was also required for all participants.
Schubert got her party in the mood for a tough election campaign. The goal is a progressive government in the federal and state levels. “That takes a strong left,” said Schubert. “As the Berlin regional association, we have a special responsibility for this.” In the 2017 federal election, the left in Berlin reached 18.8 percent.
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Broadcast: Inforadio, March 13th, 2021, 1 p.m.
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