The new left-wing political movement first proposed by Wagenknecht in early 2018 is to be called Aufstehen (stand up). Its website, aufstehen.de, will go live on Saturday, Spiegel reports.
Political observers in Germany are eagerly awaiting the launch of the new movement, due to the fragile state of left wing politics in the country at the moment.
With the Social Democrats (SPD) haemorrhaging support, Wagenknecht has stated that she sees her movement as a solution to the woes of social democracy in Germany. In view of the fact that no left-wing party has led the country since 2005, Wagenknecht has stated the aim of Aufstehen is to lift the left back into power.
The movement is not supposed to pose a threat to the parties which currently reside on the left of the political spectrum. Instead Wagenknecht sees it as a platform for discussion outside of parliament and has invited politicians from Die Linke, the Green Party and the left-wing of the SPD to join in.
“It is of course our intention to achieve a different political majority and a new government with a social agenda,” Wagenknecht told Spiegel. “If the pressure is big enough, the parties will see it is in their own interest to open their lists to our people.”
The idea was initially met with suspicion on the left, with Die Linke’s chairpeople fearing that Wagenknecht was attempting to create an organization which would usurp their authority.
But Die LInke co-chair Dietmar Bartsch said on Friday that he was now open to the idea.
“On the right they are fighting a cultural battle. We need to take every idea seriously that can oppose them,” he told Spiegel. “Perhaps this provides a chance to to strengthen the left so that we can once again have a political majority.”
Other influential politicians on the left joined the chorus of support for the movement.
“The idea is good, the timing is right, the need for far-reaching chance is enormous,” an article penned for Spiegel by MPs from the Greens, Die Linke and the SPD argued.
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