Germany: Vote For The Left Party & Build Resistance In Workplaces, Neighborhoods and Universities

All bourgeois parties, from the CDU/CSU to the FDP and the SPD to the Greens, as well as Sara Wageknecht’s new BSW, have shifted their positions to the right. In this election campaign, the question is not whether or not to support militarism and rearmament, shifting the costs of the crisis onto working people by cutting wages, cutting social services, and further redistributing wealth in favor of the rich, or sealing off the country to refugees will be on the agenda in the coming years. It is only a question of what the details of these reactionary policies will be and which parties will implement them in government.

All establishment forces want to prevent the working class from recognizing and using its own power — they divide us into “Germans against migrants”, old against young, East against West. They want us to blame “the others” — the refugees, Putin, China — for the problems we face, such as the economic crisis and price shocks, and not to think about the fact that it is German corporations and the parties associated with them that have led us into this situation.

The Left Party is the only force that advocates a different policy. It demands higher taxation of the rich, opposes wage cuts and social cuts, calls for investment in public infrastructure, a rent freeze and job security in the automotive industry through state intervention up to and including nationalization. It opposes discrimination and demands more rights for people who have less — migrants, women, queer people.

The Left Party in the Bundestag can:

• Help to break the illusion that “there is no alternative” and spread arguments for a fundamentally different policy.
• Provide public support and financial resources into strengthening the resistance against social cuts and militarism.

If the Left Party reaches 5% and enters the Bundestag (national parliament), it would send a clear message: not everything is shifting to the right. In this time of militarism and increasingly authoritarian forms of rule, we are drawing a line of defense against the shift to the right by voting for the Left Party. But it cannot be the only goal of the Left Party to somehow end its decline by entering the Bundestag. It is about preparing for what comes next, and clarifying its program and strategy.

The Left Party alone will not save us…

The Left Party is different from the bourgeois parties. However, it is not a consistently anti-capitalist or even socialist party. It has adapted to establishment parties in the form of the SPD and the Greens. It was or is part of the state governments in Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Thuringia and Bremen and has shown that in practice it makes no difference whether it or other parties govern. In Bremen, it is currently closing hospitals. In doing so, it has disappointed hundreds of thousands, made itself redundant and made it easier for the AfD to present itself as an opposition force to the establishment.

The leadership of the Left Party remains within the framework of the system. It shies away from radical ideas and cannot imagine replacing capitalism with a socialist democracy. It wants to cap rents, but does not demand the expropriation of Vonovia and Co, a massive corporation which is also Germany’s largest landlord. It is afraid to take a courageous stand on the crucial question of war because it fears alienating the bourgeois media and the establishment parties. Although it vaguely advocates a ceasefire in Ukraine, it has not clearly spoken out against arms deliveries to Ukraine. It recognizes the imperialist character of the Russian attack, but does not clearly say that NATO is also responsible for this war. The Left Party does not make it clear that capitalism means war.

It is silent about the massacre in Gaza and has not shown solidarity with the people who take to the streets against Israel’s murderous wars. It allows itself to be intimidated by the narrative of those in power, who defame all criticism of the Israeli state and its occupation and war machinery as “anti-Semitic”.

The Left Party has also been fixated on parliamentary work throughout its history since 2007. Too many careerists and egotists have been given posts.

Potential for a socialist force

A fighting Left Party, with the courage to be radical, with a clear prioritization of the extra-parliamentary struggle and a socialist perspective, would be a strong counterweight against the general shift to the right. Many young people recognize this. That is why thousands of new members have joined since the breakup of the SPD-Green-Liberal coalition and the re-election of Trump in November, and are enthusiastically and actively campaigning, going from door to door in their neighborhoods.

With these new forces, the party should root itself in neighborhoods and workplaces and engage in struggles against social cuts, high rents, layoffs and plant closures. They can help build a class-struggle pole in IG Metall and other unions that can consistently argue for the need to fight instead of giving up before the fight even starts, pointing out the role the executive boards and many works councils play in putting a brake on struggle.

New members can take action against war and militarism, especially against Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.

Whether Die Linke will be a good fighting tool for the working class is not yet finally decided. The outcome of this depends on the extent to which new members support the left-wing, anti-capitalist, anti-militarist wing, and whether this wing can keep in check those forces that still foster the illusion that Die Linke can exist as a parliament-oriented supplement to the SPD and the Greens in the bourgeois political establishment.

What is needed are party structures that limit the salaries of party MPs state parliaments and in the Bundestag to the salary of a skilled worker and can elect and vote out the leadership at any time so that the parliamentary faction does not become independent of the party.

Capitalism is the Problem

The social, ecological and economic crises cannot be solved within the framework of a system based on profit maximization. On the contrary: the capitalist system is the cause of the intensification of the imperialist competition for markets, profits, raw materials and geostrategic supremacy. Armament, wars and the climate crisis are the consequences. Capitalist competition goes hand in hand with a never-ending race to the bottom in wages, working conditions, social welfare and environmental protection.

Sozialistische Alternative (ISA in Germany) is committed to building a fighting, socialist party of the working class. A party that clearly states that wars, climate catastrophe, racism, sexism and social deprivation are inextricably linked to capitalism. An internationalist party that does not allow itself to be confused by the propaganda of German imperialism and its allies.

We call on people to vote for Die Linke on February 23. At the same time, we have to build resistance in workplaces, neighborhoods and universities against the coming attacks of a likely CDU-led government.

We are fighting for a socialist program that goes beyond that of Die Linke:

Link up with militant forces within the Left Party, such as the Anticapitalist Left (AKL). Support the Network for Fighting Unions (VKG), which is building a militant working class pole in the trade unions. Organize on a revolutionary socialist basis, join SAV and ISA.