Dispute over left-wing MPs: Emde rejects the board's demand to withdraw

dpa/taz | The left-wing politician Vanessa Emde refuses to follow her party executive's request to give up her mandate. “Of course I will continue to exercise my mandate!” she said in a press release on Sunday. She firmly rejects the state executive's demand for withdrawal. “Democratically obtained mandates are not subject to negotiation,” said Emde.

She is accused of denying Israel's right to exist and of showing solidarity with the terror-supporting Palestinian activist Ibrahim Ibrahim. Like all Left MPs, she signed a declaration against anti-Semitism at the constituent parliamentary group meeting on October 13th - but then distanced herself from it in an Instagram video.

The leadership of the Berlin Left called on Emde to return its mandate on Friday, citing a refusal to work together. “We no longer trust her,” said state chairmen Wolter and Maximilian Schirmer after a board meeting.

Emde now announced that she would not enter into a coalition without the consistent implementation of the referendum on the socialization of large housing companies and without Palestine solidarity. In addition, a coalition is not allowed to make social cuts. "The repression, intimidation and racist police violence must end and freedom of expression, assembly and art must be protected in Berlin. That's why I was elected and that's what I'm committed to," explained Emde.

Your Berlin party leaders, however, declared on Friday: A mandate is not an I-AG. "Mandates are won collectively: through the work and votes of candidates, members and the entire party. This gives rise to responsibility for one's own actions." At the end there was the unmistakable announcement from the two country leaders: “Enough is enough.”

Emde, on the other hand, is committed to behaving correctly. Her commitment is based “on the basis of our current party resolutions and the party’s elected representatives agreements,” she explained. The party conference resolution on the Jerusalem Declaration (JDA) and the decision to describe and condemn the “Israeli crimes” against the Palestinians as genocide formed an explicit basis for their political actions “and will continue to do so in the future.”

The behavior of the MPs has been the subject of discussion for weeks. Emde was newly elected to the House of Representatives on September 20th, with a direct mandate from the Neukölln constituency.

However, the Left is under strong pressure from its potential coalition partners SPD and Greens to get rid of Emde after the debates of the last few weeks. SPD parliamentary group and state leader Steffen Krach had already stated that there would be no coalition with Vanessa Emde as part of the left-wing faction.

Now that her voluntary withdrawal is now apparently ruled out, she could be expelled from the Left faction in the House of Representatives. This meets on Tuesday. If the parliamentary group executive committee requests that Emde be kicked out of the 44-member parliamentary group, it could be voted on on Tuesday. A two-thirds majority is required for exclusion. It is now increasingly likely that this will come together.