Berlin vote triggers backlash as The Left yields to pressure

Having emerged victorious from the elections in Berlin, The Left party is attempting to pursue a compliant line in the face of volleys from “mainstream” parties and the right.

At least, this is the view of Max Grigutsch, writing for junge Welt (jW). Addressing the anti-Left campaign mounted by almost the entire political spectrum following the Berlin elections, Grigutsch writes: “The Right Calls the Shots, the Left Follows.”

The author summarises the attacks that followed the elections: The Left is accused of harbouring “expropriation fantasies” (a “socialist suicide mission”, according to CSU Secretary General Martin Huber) and spreading a “systematic hatred against Israel and Jews” (according to Israel’s ambassador in Berlin), whilst also being linked closely to “clan crime”.

On election night, footage of Lebanese-born Issa Remmo, who is associated with organised crime, filmed at The Left’s election party, was broadcast across all media channels as if on cue.

“It was a public event; the man had not been invited and was probably thrown out immediately; the allegations were completely absurd anyway, but who cares: opinion-makers had no intention of missing such an opportunity,” writes the jW author.

When chat logs between one of Remmo’s sons, Firas, and Bundestag Member Ferat Kocak were made public and the entire media and political sphere “went crazy”, even “normally more level-headed members of The Left” attempted to take cover, according to Grigutsch.

Although Kocak claimed he did not know who that person was during the correspondence, he nevertheless spoke of a “mistake”. Kocak has stepped aside from his duties in the Bundestag until further notice.

According to Soren Pellmann, the parliamentary group leader of The Left, Kocak will also not attend meetings of the Committee on Internal Affairs until further notice.

“We must not fall for the false hysteria of agitators,” the author says, noting that the right “knows very well what The Left will do when tossed a bone”, and continues:

“Expropriation as a coalition condition? Elif Eralp says the issue will be ‘put on the table’ during talks. A rapper shouts ‘Yalla, Yalla Intifada’? Eralp ‘condemns this performance in the strongest terms.’ Does the Israeli ambassador see an ‘imminent existential threat’ to Jews following The Left’s success? State party leader Kerstin Wolter rejects this, but makes it clear once again that she stands behind ‘Israel’s right to exist’ and opposes ‘any glorification of terror and calls for violence’; in other words, she accepts half the accusation.”

Grigutsch, who expects a party leadership aiming for government responsibility to realise that “not constantly capitulating is in its own interest”, points out that The Left is seeking a role within a “new SPD-Greens” axis, stating: “The magic word is ‘backbone’. But here is the thing: a Left party that managed to peel away a total of 112,000 votes from the Greens, the SPD, and the CDU, and perhaps already wants to become the new social democratic party of major cities, could arrive at the exact opposite conclusion.”