Left in Saxony | Saxony: Left faction allowed to continue budget negotiations

"Defeats make you strong," says Marco Böhme. The 35-year-old suffered a bitter defeat in September. In the state elections, a furious campaign in his constituency of Leipzig 6 ensured that The Left Party achieved its highest second-vote result in the Free State with 20.6 percent. Böhme himself, however, missed out on the coveted direct mandate because the Campact network had recommended his Green competitor . The Left Party failed to clear the five percent hurdle and only entered parliament with six representatives thanks to two other Leipzig direct mandates. Böhme, on the other hand, who had previously served as parliamentary manager of the state parliamentary group and had hoped for more, was out of state politics.

Six months later, he's back – as part of the state party's new leadership. At a party conference in Leipzig on Saturday, he and Anja Eichhorn were elected as the new co-chairs. The 39-year-old art historian and Böhme, a trained urban planner, faced rival candidates Marika Tändler-Walenta and Silvio Lang, the district leaders of Central Saxony and Bautzen, respectively, but prevailed with 70.5 and 63.7 percent of the vote, respectively.

Eichhorn, who is active in the Left Party's State Women's Council and the Left Party's LAG Queer, among other things, explained that the Left Party is there for those "who do not fit the mold of right-wing ideologues." Böhme, one of the state party's most prominent climate politicians and a long-standing anti-fascist activist, emphasized that the Left Party, "unlike all other parties, has not tilted to the right." This is its "unique selling point." Böhme and Eichhorn, who had presented a joint proposal to the delegates, emphasized that they wanted to "reconquer the area" with the Left Party in the super election year of 2029. In four years, the Bundestag, the European Parliament, the Saxon State Parliament, as well as the city, municipal, and many district councils in the Free State will be re-elected.

The loss of numerous local mandates in the 2024 election is among the distressing experiences of their predecessors in office: Susanne Schaper and Stefan Hartmann, who took over the leadership in 2019 after what was perceived as a bitter defeat, receiving 10.4 percent of the vote in a state election. They then had to lead the party through the coronavirus pandemic and difficult peace policy debates surrounding the war in Ukraine, and most recently, the bitter 4.5 percent result in the 2024 state election. They were "chairmen of crises," Schaper said.

At the same time, however, the duo managed to unite the once notoriously divided state association – with a course they dubbed the "Saxon Way," which Schaper described as follows: "You have to prioritize what we have in common, not what divides us." This approach ensured that no trench warfare broke out even after the election debacle in September. Since then, the party has seen an unprecedented influx of new members, whose number reached a record high of 11,000 shortly before the party conference, and a resounding success in the federal election in February. Schaper said she was "incredibly happy that we are not a state executive committee that ultimately turns out the lights."

Over the weekend, the outgoing leadership duo also mastered the final challenge and secured a mandate for the state parliamentary group for further negotiations on the current state budget . The minority coalition of the CDU and SPD, which is ten seats short of a majority in the state parliament, needs support from the opposition. Because the BSW is unwilling to offer this support, all hopes rest on the Greens and the Left, who together have 13 representatives.

However, there is resistance within the Left Party to supporting the budget. Because tax revenues are stagnating and the state's financial obligations have risen sharply, the government's January draft proposed dramatic cuts . A motion for the state party conference stated that this was "an unprecedented program of austerity" that Left Party MPs would have to refuse to approve. This also applies to inadequate compromises. The "minimum conditions" for approval, in addition to the possibility of taking on debt, are funding for social welfare, health, culture, education, and climate protection "at the 2024 level plus inflation adjustment." This is considered unrealistic and would have effectively resulted in a refusal by Left Party MPs and thus the failure of the budget.

"Of course, this remains a shitty budget. But what we've achieved so far is more than enough."

Rico Gebhardt Member of the State Parliament

The consequences would be dramatic, Schaper warned. In the best-case scenario, negotiations would start all over again, extending the provisional budget, which would entail significant cuts in funding for municipalities, culture, and projects in the areas of democracy and integration. "That would be the almost certain death of civil society and thus the wet dream of the extreme right," Schaper said.

A conceivable consequence of failed budget talks could also be that the CDU allows itself to be tolerated by the AfD, or that new elections are held, which, according to current polls, would be won by the far-right: "It is our duty to consider whether we really want this." Many initiatives, associations, and unions are urging the Left Party to agree to a budget, even if it is unsatisfactory, under these conditions. "Better a bad budget than no budget at all," said David Eckardt, the state director of the Workers' Welfare Association, as a guest speaker at the party conference.

Nevertheless, several comrades considered approval to be a mistake. The party was being "blackmailed" with concessions such as the preservation of some civil society structures, said Carl Bauer, one of the authors of the rejection motion: "This is not a departure from the destructive austerity policies of the last 30 years." Nam Duy Nguyen, a directly elected member of the state parliament in Leipzig , warned that tolerating the austerity course risked "playing into the hands of the right." Approval would only be considered if the budget "clearly bears a left-wing signature and there are some projects that noticeably improve people's everyday lives."

However, all of his other parliamentary colleagues, all four Saxon members of the Bundestag, and other prominent party figures supported an urgent motion that, while setting conditions for further budget talks, gives the members of parliament a free hand. They should work toward "significant improvements" in areas such as social affairs, health, housing, and the promotion of democracy, without setting any specific targets. Furthermore, a "right of co-decision" for The Left Party in the allocation of Saxony's funds from the federal government's €500 billion special fund must be established, and the Free State should also utilize the options for easing the debt brake "in the future."

Many of these have apparently already been agreed upon in ongoing talks. Hartmann said the Left Party would be "allowed to negotiate the money from the federal government's special fund for twelve years." Furthermore, higher amounts for daycare allowances, for integration, culture, and the funding of student unions have been promised, said Rico Gebhardt, the parliamentary group's financial expert. The budget remains "a shitty budget, of course," he said: "But what we have achieved so far is more than enough."

State Vice President Markus Pohle warned that if the state were to cut costs as planned, "it would be our people who would be the first to be thrown under the bus." The six state parliament members were fighting "a David versus Goliath battle" in the negotiations with the coalition and government. However, they should be "given a vote of confidence, not stripped of their negotiating mandate," Pohle warned. The vast majority of the approximately 160 delegates present shared this view. The urgent motion, which would give the members legroom, was ultimately passed unanimously.