Left Party wins Berlin House of Representatives election for the first time
In the election to the Berlin House of Representatives held on September 20, the Left Party took first place with 25.7% of the vote (an increase of 13.5 percentage points compared with the 2023 election).
This follows from the official preliminary data released overnight into Monday, September 21.
In second place is the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) with 18.8%, and in third the far-right "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) with 16.3%. They are followed by the Greens (14.3%) and the SPD (12.1%). The left-populist "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance" (4.7%) and the liberal FDP (2.5%) did not make it into the Berlin parliament, posting results below the five-percent threshold.
Thus, the Left Party will receive 47 seats in the new session of the House of Representatives, the CDU 35, the AfD 29, the Greens 26, and the SPD 22. Voter turnout was 74.2 percent.
Head of the Left Party in Berlin hopes to become mayor
The leader of the Left Party in Berlin, Elif Eralp, said that she hopes to take the post of governing mayor of the German capital. "The residents of Berlin have given us a clear mandate to lead the city," she said.
The Greens and the SPD are considered potential partners for the Left Party in a ruling coalition in Berlin. However, negotiations between them promise to be difficult because of disagreements on a number of issues. For instance, the Left Party and the Greens want to implement the decision taken in a city referendum in 2021 and expropriate more than 200,000 apartments from large housing companies. The Social Democrats oppose this plan.
Another issue is the topic of antisemitism. Although Eralp has repeatedly stressed that she wants to support and develop Jewish life in Berlin, the party faces criticism from potential coalition partners. Greens co-chair Felix Banaszak has already called a coalition with the Left Party possible, but on the condition that it demonstrate a "clear stance against antisemitism."
Appearance of a clan head at the Left Party celebration drew criticism
On the evening after voting ended, Issa Remmo, whom German media call the head of the well-known Remmo clan of Arab origin, was spotted at the Left Party celebration in Berlin's Neukölln district.
The Left Party is distancing itself from Remmo: party representatives said that the party was open and anyone who wished could attend. Elif Eralp said on the ZDF television channel: "We have nothing to do with organized crime." Meanwhile, other parties are criticizing the Left Party. In particular, the head of the Greens' branch in Neukölln, Nina Stahr, demanded explanations from the potential partners, linking this to negotiations on forming a new Berlin government.
Source: DW
