Overview
- Die Linke emerged as the largest party in the Berlin Abgeordnetenhaus election and now leads negotiations to form the next city government.
- Parliamentary sessions have focused on alleged antisemitic incidents and reported contacts between party figures and organised‑crime clans, with CDU politicians urging the Verfassungsschutz to examine the Berlin association.
- Linke Bundestag member Ferat Koçak acknowledged contacts with the Remmo clan and has temporarily stepped back from his parliamentary functions while the party investigates.
- The party’s renewed push for large‑scale expropriations to lower rents has fuelled fierce debate, with critics and the Rechnungshof warning of legal challenges and potential compensation costs of up to €42 billion.
- A separate shock for the Union came when the CDU failed to enter the Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern parliament, prompting CDU/CSU leaders to demand major reforms to the Länderfinanzausgleich and to press for party renewal that could affect national coalition arithmetic.