Party conference after the election: Left Party clears the way for explorations

In the end, the vote was clearer than expected. Delegates at a special party conference of the Berlin Left Party on Friday evening voted with an overwhelming majority to start talks with the Greens and the SPD. This means that the explorations can begin next week.

The left's leading candidate Elif Eralp promoted the talks with a self-confident speech in front of the 167 delegates. “Now it’s about converting hope into a change of policy for the city,” she said about her party’s victory in the elections for the Berlin House of Representatives. “It’s about starting a new chapter for this city from the Red Town Hall.”

Before Eralp's speech, the two Left state chairmen Kerstin Wolter and Maximilian Schirmer took up the criticism surrounding the appearance of clan leader Issa Remmo and the accusations of anti-Semitism against parts of the Left Party. “We have to say that boundaries have been exceeded,” said Schirmer. "There are also people in this city who are afraid of organized crime. We take this very seriously because we take the people in this city seriously."

Kerstin Wolter emphasized that mistakes were made in her party. "Sentences were spoken that frightened Jews. If that happens, it is not in our name." At the same time, Wolter spoke of a “clear government mandate”. “Let’s now talk to the Greens and the SPD,” she urged the delegates. “With humility before this huge task and with a straight back.”

An incident occurred before Eralp and the state chairwoman appeared. During the welcoming speech of the “School strike against conscription” initiative, a speaker said about the arrest of an activist that if there was a problem with armed clans in Berlin, “then these are the people who are hitting us with sticks.” Left regional manager Björn Thielebein then had to intervene: “That is not our language and our view of clans and the police,” he said.

The question of starting soundings played only a minor role in the debate that then began. The majority of speakers recalled the election campaign that had brought the Left's best result in Berlin. Last Sunday she won the election with almost 26 percent, well ahead of the CDU.

Pascal Meiser, who won the first direct mandate in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in the last federal election, emphasized once again that the Left has now won all direct mandates in the district. He cited the reason for success: “Rent, rent, rent.” And further: “We have to make fighting the rent mafia a top priority with Elif in the Red City Hall.”

Before the party conference, it seemed that the path to exploratory talks with the Greens and SPD would not be easy. A group of government skeptics had criticized the selection of the exploratory commission, which the state executive board had already agreed on on Monday. In an application to the state party conference, it was initially said that the “breadth of the party” had to be reflected in the exploratory team. Neukölln MP Rouzbeh Taheri, who is primarily concerned with the implementation of the referendum to expropriate Deutsche Wohnen and Co., also signed.

The application itself states: “The state executive board is requested to ensure, when composing the exploratory team, that those parts of the party that are critical of government participation are also at the table.” The team nominated by the state executive committee consists of the top candidate Elif Eralp, the two state chairmen Kerstin Wolter and Maximilian Schirmer and the parliamentary group leader Tobias Schulze.

But the motion, whose acceptance would have been a sign of the delegates' distrust of their own party leadership, was withdrawn before the vote. The Left has been on the government course since Friday evening. The first unofficial talks with the Greens took place on Wednesday. The two left-wing state chairmen declared this before the party conference. It was agreed that the first thing to talk about was security and the protection of Jewish life and also the fight against anti-Semitism and racism.

The Green top candidate Werner Graf explained this in the RBB: “Today there was a first informal meeting in a small circle and in a good atmosphere.” Former Green Finance Senator Daniel Wesener had previously stated on X that there was “no other viable democratic majority in the state parliament”. The explorations are expected to begin next Wednesday. There will be further informal discussions on Monday, this time also with the SPD.

The state party conference ended at 7:50 p.m. with the singing of the International. Afterwards, Eralp spoke to the large number of media representatives about a “great” party conference. “That was a clear signal that we are now starting to explore,” she said.