Overview
- Sahra Wagenknecht and co-chair Amira Mohamed Ali wrote to Bundestag President Julia Klöckner urging a prompt ruling on the party’s recount bid and warning of legal action over further delay, citing a constitutional court call for timely decisions on election challenges.
- BSW narrowly missed the five percent threshold by about 9,500 votes in February and alleges systematic counting errors, while the Bundestag’s election review committee has not given a timeline for a decision.
- The party says a successful recount could grant it more than 30 seats, which would cost the Union–SPD coalition its majority and give AfD and BSW together over a quarter of seats, allowing them to initiate inquiry committees.
- At a Berlin retreat this weekend, leaders are debating strategy and a proposed board slate for a December congress, with a spokeswoman saying Wagenknecht will stay in a leading role as a decision on whether she seeks the chair again is not expected yet.
- A draft platform targets the government’s ‘war course,’ calls for halting weapons to Ukraine and resuming Russian pipeline energy, and proposes domestic steps including a rent freeze, a €15 minimum wage and zero VAT on basic foods, with a party renaming planned for the Magdeburg congress.