DThe Left is going into the European election campaign with party leader Martin Schirdewan and the independent refugee and climate activist Carola Rackete as the top duo. Rackete was elected to second place on the European election list by around 440 delegates at the party conference in Augsburg on Saturday evening with 77.8 percent approval. Schirdewan had previously been chosen as the top candidate with 86.9 percent.
While the 35-year-old Rackete had no opposing candidate, the federal chairman surprisingly had to compete against another candidate. Hamburger Bijan Tavassoli declared his candidacy and then caused a scandal. Tavassoli used his speech to insult the party and eulogize Sahra Wagenknecht, who recently left the left. He then declared his resignation from the party.
With reference to the non-party climate activist Rackete and the also non-party doctor Gerhard Trabert, who were to be elected second and fourth place shortly afterwards, Tavassoli said that it was obviously helpful not to be a party member if you wanted to get on the Federal Committee’s European election list .
When Tavassoli accuses Rackete of bringing a “new people” to Germany on a boat on the Mediterranean, a group of delegates chanted “Siamo tutti antifascisti” (Italian for “We are all antifascists”), a slogan that was used by which Antifa often uses at demonstrations.
With his statement, Tavassoli alluded to Rackete’s past in sea rescue. She became internationally known as the captain of the ship “Sea Watch 3”. In 2019, despite a ban by the Italian authorities, she docked on the island of Lampedusa to bring migrants rescued from distress ashore.
“I messed up then”
However, Tavassoli had no chance of choosing the candidate and only received around two percent of the vote before he was led out of the hall by security personnel. The party conference presidium spoke of a “disruptive action”, Schirdewan of an “unpleasant incident”. Tavassoli had already attracted attention with provocative actions in the past.
Rackete’s candidacy was greeted with great applause by many delegates on Saturday and expressions of how excited they were about her candidacy. The day before the election, Rackete caused discontent among some leftists with an interview. She told the “Zeit Online” portal that the left should consistently distance itself from the SED past and come to terms with this time.
Rackete later said on the X platform, formerly Twitter, that this had been “a thoughtless statement.” The left has come to terms with its past, she wrote. At the beginning of her application speech, she once again distanced herself from her SED statement: “I messed up there.”
In an interview with the FAZ, she said that it was “definitely more difficult” for her and her team, who came from outside, to assess their sensitivities. “We still have a lot to learn. But we have a lot of support in the party, and I’m grateful for that.”
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