AAt the first federal party conference of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), her husband Oskar Lafontaine called for a new policy of peace and disarmament. All parties represented in the Bundestag are “for war and militarization,” said the former SPD and left-wing politician on Saturday evening in Berlin.
Germany in particular has a special responsibility to work for peace. In connection with the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, Lafontaine called for an immediate ceasefire, an end to arms sales and diplomatic negotiations.
The BSW federal party conference fell on January 27th, the day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism. “This day is an obligation for everyone who makes politics in Germany to do everything they can to ensure that this never happens again,” said Lafontaine. January 27th obliges us to “repeatedly stand up for the Jews, including for the State of Israel.”
But he also wanted to remember, said Lafontaine, that the German mass murder also led to the expulsion of the Palestinians. Germany must therefore also stand up for their right to life. “It doesn’t matter what nationality and religion the dying people have,” said the politician. “Every human life that is threatened should touch us.” What is happening in Gaza is “a war crime” that we must prosecute.
Lafontaine criticized the “recklessness of the new generals Merz, Hofreiter and Strack-Zimmermann,” who demanded missiles for Ukraine that could reach Moscow. “Where have we actually gotten to?” The slogan “Never again war” must once again become the leitmotif for German society, he demanded, “the leading culture.”
Lafontaine identified a gap in the party landscape that the BSW would fill, and not just in matters of peace policy. The same applies to social policy. No party consistently stands for good wages and pensions. Politics only has one purpose: to improve people's lives.
It's about human dignity; The entire program of the BSW can be summarized in this one term. What affects people in their everyday lives are questions of social policy, says Lafontaine. “And if they are no longer taken to heart, then we will no longer have democracy.” The BSW is running because this is exactly what is at stake.
Lafontaine will not take office in the new party. After Wagenknecht, Amira Mohamed Ali, Christian Leye and several other board members were elected at the beginning of January, additional board members were up for election at the party conference.
The former leftists Friederike Benda and Amid Rabieh became vice chairmen. The journalist Michael Lüders, the Bundestag members Alexander Ulrich and Zaklin Nastic and the former member Sabine Zimmermann were elected to the extended board.
The worst result in the board election was with 66 percent for the former SPD politician Thomas Geisel, who wants to enter the European Parliament for the BSW. The former leftist Fabio De Masi is expected to run for number one on the European election list. The party congress unanimously supported the program for the European elections entitled: “An independent Europe of sovereign democracies – peaceful and fair”.
#Lafontaine #accuses #Israel #war #crimes #Gaza #Strip