DThe Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) is led by a dual leadership: Amira Mohamed Ali will head the newly founded party together with Sahra Wagenknecht. Mohamed Ali said this on Monday at the federal press conference in Berlin. Christian Leye, a member of the Bundestag, was introduced as Secretary General. In the European elections on June 9th, the former left-wing politician and financial expert Fabio De Masi and the former SPD mayor of Düsseldorf Thomas Geisel are scheduled to run for the BSW. The new party wants to run in the three state elections in East Germany in the fall.
The party had previously been officially founded. There were 44 founding members, said Wagenknecht at the federal press conference. Party researchers believe the new party will appeal to protest voters and, among other things, steal votes from the AfD, which is currently strong in polls.
At the beginning of the founding meeting in a Berlin hotel, Wagenknecht said that it was “a bit of a historic day” that “we are laying the foundation for a party that has the potential to fundamentally change the spectrum of German parties and, above all, politics “To fundamentally change our country.” The founding itself took place behind closed doors.
1.4 million euros collected in donations
Wagenknecht and nine other members of the Bundestag left the Left party in October. The Sahra Wagenknecht alliance was initially founded as an association to prepare the party. She collected 1.4 million euros in donations as start-up capital for the party, as BSW treasurer Ralph Suikat told the editorial network Germany.
Around 90 percent of donations are small amounts. There are a dozen donations above the publication limit of 10,000 euros. According to the information, a married couple donated 50,000 euros, three private individuals each donated 20,000 euros. Less than ten donations amount to 10,000 euros each.
On January 8, 2023, Sahra Wagenknecht (center), together with Amira Mohamed Ali (left) and Ralph Suikat, welcomes the participants to the founding ceremony of the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht – for Reason and Justice (BSW) party in a Berlin hotel.
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Image: dpa
These major donors will be listed in the party's annual report for 2024, even if they transferred the money to the predecessor association in the previous year, Suikat announced. Party lawyers and anti-corruption activists had warned about this.
According to further information, a total of less than 12,500 euros were donated from abroad, less than 5,000 euros of which came from non-EU countries. With reference to Russia, two donations totaling 75 euros were received – these came from German accounts but Russian IP addresses.
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